Day 11 - Glacier NP (Going to the Sun Road)

We awoke Saturday morning to this amazing view. The water was like glass. Rob said the reflection had better color than the real scenery.

After an early breakfast we were on the road a little after 8am to fuel up before our all-day ride through other parts of the park. Since the Going to the Sun Road was now open, but on a limited basis beginning at 9am, we wanted to arrive before then. So did everyone else! We got in line at the St. Mary Visitor Center parking lot. Traffic started moving at 9am.

It wasn’t long before we smelled the forest fires then saw and drove through the destruction. Large areas completely blackened and big swaths of char went up the mountains.

Actively burning fires are still visible in the area. We had hoped it would be further contained, but this forest fire is still alive and dangerous.

Black trees against the blue lake kept it from being too depressing of a sight.

This eastern portion of the road between Rising Sun and Siyeh Bend was restricted to no stopping at overlooks, but traffic moved along smoothly allowing for great pictures of the area.

Although much devastation has been brought by the fire.

There are still pockets of unburned areas as well.

The Going to the Sun Road basically connects the east and west portions of the park and is about 60 miles of amazing scenery (and road building engineering). It kept getting better and better as we ascended.

Logan’s pass is the high point of the road at 6,600 feet in elevation. Not especially high compared to other roads we’ve been on, but more impressive because of the scale of the mountains, its many layers, and how close the road is to the sheer rock face.

This is easily the most scenic AND spectacular road we have yet traveled, topping Beartooth Pass in southern Montana/northern Wyoming and Mt. Carmel into Zion National Park, Utah.

The mountain ranges were gigantic and seemed unreal like a painting before us. Many had glaciers of varying sizes. We passed waterfalls right onto the road and “weeping walls”.

We stopped at an overlook or two.

The road was also narrow and twisty in some portions.

We made our way to the Lake McDonald area in the southwest portion of the park. There is a smaller swiss-style lodge here and we planned to stop for lunch.

The interior was a sight in itself.

After lunch we briefly walked along the coastline of the lake then got back on the bike to continue our journey.

Rob planned a route that took us outside the park to see new sights. About 20 minutes in he said “I hope this road is paved the whole way.” What?! It was just several miles later that a sign appeared “Pavement ends.” So did our journey on that road! He got the Wing turned around and we went back the way we came.

Back in the park we were roasting by this point, it was 82 degrees today instead of the expected low 70s. We had jeans on under our gear and regretted it. We took a quick stop at the Apgar Visitors Center to cool off.

Back on the road we figured our ascent back up the Road to the Sun would help cool us--and it did.

The trip in this direction gave us new views of the mountains and glaciers. And, we were on the outside lane of the steep cliff roads this time! The views were enough to give Rob mild vertigo. Rob kept looking over and going “Whooah, whooah” as if he was suffering from a dizzy spell. (Not especially funny on a 1,000 pound bike 6000 feet in the air with only a two-foot wall separating us from the cliff...Rob was having fun though!). If you have even the slightest fear of heights, this is not the road for you.

We stopped at the Logans Pass Visitor Center, squeezing into a tight motorcycle spot next to a few Harleys. One of the Harley guys who seemed a bit serious in nature, walked behind our bike and looked at our license plate. He seemed to accept that we were worthy enough, having ridden all the way from VA. Without any reaction or conversation he got on his bike and headed out. Hmmm. You meet (or in this case don't meet) the most interesting people on motorcycles).

At Logans Pass we walked up through a wildflower meadow and exhibit area and faced this fantastic mountain and glacier. This glacier has melted into a lake (named Hidden Lake, can you see why?). If you hike up about 2 miles, you can see the lake. With our riding boots on, we weren't really prepared to hike that far so we just admired it from afar.

We overheard a man saying that mountain goats were resting far in the distance on the mountainside. Rob spent 20 minutes perfecting his camera settings to get them in focus and got a few photos.  Just then another man said that there were mountain goats just at the edge of the garden! These were much easier to capture in a photo.

From different viewpoints we could see the fire destruction again, but this time there was visible smoke from active burnings.

Finishing at Logans Pass, we got back on the bike to return the way we first came in.

One of the last mountain passes on the road before the exit point had several burning pockets high on the mountain. Hot, dry weather has really hampered the firefighting efforts.

We decided to grab pizza at the neighboring campsite restaurant where we had lunch yesterday. They took us right away and our pizza was excellent. While eating dinner, we noticed a park ranger was outside with a scope looking high over the restaurant. She later turned her scope to the mountain opposite us and soon a crowd appeared around her. We had to join this party, assuming something good was on the mountain, maybe more goats? When we walked up a woman said it was a Grizzly bear with her two cubs! The ranger let everyone get in line to take a peek. The bears were probably about 3 miles away making seeing them with the naked eye nearly impossible. While Michele waited in line, Rob found them with his big camera lens and got these shots.

The Grizzly was huge and her cubs looked healthy and active. The ranger said the bears are in hyper mode, eating 20 hours a day to fatten up before winter. They are eating the service berries that ripen up the mountain and also move rocks to find ants. The cubs were “first years” according to the ranger. We stood there about 30 minutes looking at the bears and chatting excitedly with other tourists. Michele was especially happy for this chance sighting since she has never seen a Grizzly in the wild before. This was a very safe distance to see a Grizzly, we think.

Today we finally saw two of the largest animals we had hoped to see on this trip, and it was a very good day. Tomorrow we may hike and explore other new areas on our last day in Glacier.