Waterton-Glacier Tour
Day 6 Going to the Sun Highway Glacier National Park

I woke up around 8 a.m.  I got packed up and on the road for 9:30 a.m.  Before leaving, I exchanged E-mail addresses with Jennifer.  Several people from the campground waved to me as they passed me on the road. A scenic overlook near St. Mary Lake

Going to the Sun Highway

The road followed St. Mary lake for a while before beginning the gradual ascent to Logan Pass.  I stopped at almost every  overlook for pictures.  The scenery was absolutely spectacular.

The road cleared the tree line near a large curve.  From here, I made my final push to Logan Pass.  I passed through a small tunnel, barely visible on the photo to the right.

The final push to Logan Pass

I arrived at Logan Pass around noon.  Of course, I just had to take the obligatory picture next to the sign.  I locked up the bike and walked around the visitor's center.

Logan Pass 6,680 feet.

I put on my windbreaker and leg warmers in preparation for the long descent ahead of me.  The road from Logan Pass drops away steeply.

An overlook near Logan Pass

I stopped at an overlook about a mile from the pass.  If you look carefully at the photo on the left, you can see the Going to the Sun Highway carved into the side of the mountains on the right hand side of the photograph.

During the descent, I kept my speed around 25 M.P.H..  The road was narrow with lot's of curves.  Also, I continued to stopping at almost every overlook.  This was generally the speed of the  car traffic.  So I just took the full lane and cruised down the mountain.

During my climb, I heard from people at the various overlooks of  3 other  cyclists climbing the pass from West to East (I did it East to West).  I was about to pull out of an overlook when they passed me.  They were riding unloaded racing bikes.  One of them made a comment to me about me being crazy for carrying all that stuff.

I  have been told the climb from West to East is harder than the climb from East to West.  Once, I reached the pass, I had a very easy  ride.  The previous day's ride from Waterton to Glacier near Chief Mountain was much more difficult than the climb over Logan Pass. For the most part the grades on Going to the Sun Highway were very reasonable.  The only exception might be going the final mile to Logan Pass if you travel West to East.  It's a classic bike ride that is very do-able for most cyclists.

Another view from  Going to the Sun Highway

Mountain Stream

I descended the rest of the way down the mountain.  At the bottom, I stopped to take the  picture of a mountain stream on the  right.   I stopped into the campground store at Lake McDonald for groceries.  The store had plenty of souvenirs and a lot of junk foot (chips, and dip).  However, they had very little food that any reasonable person would call a meal.  I wound up buying 2 cans of Spaghetti O's and  4 bottles of Black Star Beer.  The supper of champions!

I continued on along Lake McDonald to Apgar Campground.  I got another hiker/biker site for $3.  Again, I had it all to myself.  Being a Friday night, the campground rapidly filled up with RV's.   I watched the "Parade of the Big Rigs" drive by my site while I ate my Spaghetti O's and washed it down with Black Star Beer. 

My trip was drawing to a close.  It had been a great trip with lot's of challenging climbs and great scenery.  I met lots of nice people.  My new bike  performed flawlessly.  I didn't even get a flat. I only had one day with really bad weather.  I camped every night.  My total mileage this day was 43.5

Continue to Day 7

Introduction
Day 1 Kalispell, Montana to Dickey Lake, Montana
Day 2 Dickey Lake, Montana to Fernie, British Columbia
Day 3 Fernie, British Columbia to Pincher Creek, Alberta
Day 4 Pincher Creek, Alberta to Waterton Lakes National Park
Day 5 Waterton Lakes National Park to Glacier National Park
Day 6 Going to the Sun Highway Glacier National Park
Day 7 Glacier National Park to Kalispell, Montana