Two trips to Glacier in a single week? Yep. After our trip on Monday, we went again on Thursday. But this time it was on bikes. Dave, Luke, and I braved the road while the women opted to stay home.
Although the road to Logan Pass is cleared of snow, it’s closed to traffic above Avalanche Creek. Only hikers and bikers are allowed on the sixteen-mile stretch to the pass. The catch? It’s all uphill. You start at the level of the river, at the bottom of the canyon, and ascend all the way to the pass.
And the weather wasn’t great– it was a chilly 50 degrees, grey, and wet. We looked up at the mountains as we started, not sure we’d even be able to see anything once we got up there.
Intermittent rain and wind made the climb kind of a slog. So we stopped for pictures along the way, admiring the steadily changing scenery.
One advantage to biking the road, without any cars, is that you can stop to see waterfalls and other things that you’d normally have to blow past at 35mph. Here are a few examples.
As we climbed out of the valley, the views became more spectacular.
The distant green on the mountains, coupled with melting snow running down their sides, made for some great shots.
Looking back along the valley was cool, but the clouds still looked menacing. We continued our climb.
SO. MANY. TREES. Not only here, but on all my travels through Montana, I’ve been amazed at the sheer number of evergreen trees.
The clouds slid over the tops of the mountains, providing an ever-changing mix of granite and water vapor.
We stopped short of the pass; after eleven miles of uphill we were all kind of beat. We had a snack and turned to head back down. And– wouldn’t you know it– the clouds began to clear. They rolled back to expose blue skies.
Imagine coasting downhill at 20mph, cruising around a corner to see this view:
Then imagine hitting your brakes so you can take a picture of it. But not realizing that Dave is right behind you, also blasting downhill. He hits his brakes, and Luke, behind him, does as well. But Luke slams them a little hard and does a spectacular endo right beside you. Ouch. My bad.
After we bandaged some wounds, we continued coasting downhill. It was so much fun to go down on a clear road, no cars in sight. And the views? Well, Glacier doesn’t disappoint.
Absolutely spectacular. What a ride.