Going to the Sun Road 7.14.08

Ever since I began biking, it has been a dream of mine to ride the Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park. I am not sure why. Maybe because this place is so far away from everywhere, or maybe it was just the name that caught my eye, but whatever it was I was about to find out.

Becca and I got up really early to do this ride. Bikes are not allowed on the road after 11 am, so we woke up at 6am and broke camp. We headed into Apgar Village for some mediocre coffee and then drove to the Avalanche picnic area which would be our starting point. On the way to Avalanche, we saw a huge male moose with giant antlers. I have never seen one of these before. Pretty cool!

The ride began around 8am. It was cool and shady as we began pedaling up the road. We had 16 miles and 3300 feet of climbing ahead of us to the top of Logan Pass.The beginning of the ride is relatively flat as it follows the McDonald River. The crystal blue water is amazing to look at as it flows over the rocks in the river to our right. It is hard not to stare at it, but we need to keep our eyes on the road. This “flat” part of the ride goes on for about 4 miles before the road starts to go up. When I say up, I do mean up!

This road was built in 1933 as part of a CCC project. I do not think they had today’s cars in mind when they built it. The road is narrow and is built on a shelf with really no guard rails at all. This road makes Trail Ridge road in Rocky Mountain National Park look like an interstate highway. After a huge switchback, the road hugs a huge cliff wall all the way to the summit.

As we rounded the first switchback, the auto traffic was held up due to some road construction. They allowed us to pedal on so we had the whole road to ourselves for the next 45 minutes. It was awesome. We both felt like we were in the Tour de France: narrow roads, big sweeping views of the valley ahead, and glaciers on the peaks above. Because of the road temporary closure, we had the road all to ourselves. We road through tunnels, over bridges, and past countless waterfalls. It was amazing. Now I know why it was a dream to ride this road. It really felt like a dream the whole time we were riding. As we reached the top of the pass, we were greeted by some mountain goats with a little baby. The baby might have been the cutest animal I have ever seen. This was a great way to end the hard part of the ride.

We filled up our bottles at the visitor’s center and headed back down. The long ride back to the bottom was great… until the construction traffic finally stopped us. About ½ way down we had to wait for 30 minutes for construction. The wait was not so bad because it was warm and beautiful views. After the wait we cruised down the same road we came up on. The descent seemed longer than I remembered going up, but we finally made it back to the car.

After a quick change into our swimsuits, we cruised up the road a bit and went to the coolest swimming hole I have ever seen. On the McDonald River, blue water pours over red rocks and it makes an awesome jumping off point for a quick swim. We both jumped of the rocks into the frigid blue water. We did this a few times and had so much fun even though the water was cold. This is a great way to feel refreshed after a ride. All in all this might have been the best road ride I have ever been on.