Glacier National Park - Going to the Sun Road, Many Glacier
One of the most impressive and awe-inspiring momentos of this trip was the 20 mile climb on Going-to-the-Sun Road. Kevin and I spent the months of May, June, and July training to make it to the top of Going-to-the-Sun Road and the summit at Logan Pass. I had broken my ankle on a cycling accident in early March and resumed cycling in the middle of May. We had, effectively, 71/2 weeks to get in shape to tackle this most spectacular natural and man-made experience of the trip. Neither Kevin nor I had any experience with climbs of this distance. The ride from Lake McDonald Lodge to the summit at Logan Pass is 3,400 feet of elevation gain. We have hills in and around DC but nothing like a 20 mile up-hill climb. Normally, our cycling strategy for hills is to hammer as hard as we can - that way it ends sooner - your legs stop screaming- but with a 20 mile climb that strategy is just not going to work. We also wanted to use this as an opportunity to see the incredible sites that Glacier National Park had to offer.
The Route
On the second day of the tour, we awoke early to a terrific thunderstorm that echoed throughout the mountains. As we pulled the blankets over our heads and groaned, we all hoped it would pass quickly. Riding in the rain is no fun, but I sure am glad that I packed my rain shell.
We had a great buffet breakfast in the dining room and then we gathered up all of our gear and headed out on the bike. Going-to-the-Sun road, a 52 mile engineering marvel, was built in sections between 1911 and 1933. The road runs east to west through Glacier National Park. “Starting in the west, the road runs from West Glacier, along the 10-mile eastern shore of Lake McDonald and then up McDonald Creek for an an additional ten miles. About one mile beyond the junction with Logan Creek, the road begins its ascent to Logan pass. The road climbs at a 6-percent grade, passes through a tunnel, and turns at a major switchback called “The Loop.” The road then follows the contours of the sides of Haystack Butte and Pollock Mountain, passing over several bridges, culverts and retaining walls before reaching Logan Pass. The road descends to the east along the sides of Piegan Mountain and Going-to-the-Sun Mountain before running along the north shore of St. Mary Lake.” (West Side Tunnel HAER MT-76 - Historic American Buildings Surevy/Historic American Engineering Record - American Memory/Library of Congress).
To climb “Going-to-the-Sun” Road, required us to leave pretty early in the morning. The National Park Service requires all bicycles to be off the road by 11 am. So we had to leave Lake McDonald Lodge by 7 am to ensure that we reached Logan Pass by 11 am. Today’s ride would be about a sixty mile day but it would involve a 20 mile climb beginning about 3600 feet and climbing to Logan Pass 6680’ near the Continental Divide.
As we left Lake McDonald Lodge, the morning started out cold, damp, and overcast. As we rode along we were told by tour guide Dave to keep a look out for interesting scenic points as we made our trek up the road. He encouraged us all to stop and look at the sites. Some of the spectacular sites include The Loop, the Tunnel, Bird Woman Falls Overlook, the Weeping Wall, Logan Pass, Jackson Glacier, Wild Goose Island, Two Dog Flats, and Bear Grass, a wildflower that covered certain stretches of the ground near the road.
We began our climb with Lake McDonald Creek on our left. The creek is a winding tributary that empties into Lake McDonald. We passed the “Sacred Dancing Cascades,” a series of small waterfalls and rapids that flow into Lake McDonald. As we were riding along, we could hear the sounds of the creek, the flow of water rushing by us as we began to tackle the increasing grade. As we began the climb, the day was overcast and the fog had not yet burned off.
The first ten miles of the ride, the grade was not bad - the average was about 5 percent grade. Once we reached the Loop, the grade would increase to about 8 percent. I have a triple on my bike (52-42-30/12-25) and I was very glad to have the smallest ring.
Even though the day was cloudy and damp, it did not quell our enthusiasm. We continued up the road and made it to the West Side Tunnel.
This is a pretty amazing piece of engineering. The West Side Tunnel was completed in 1928. When the tunnel was originally constructed, it was 192 feet long, 20 feet wide, 18 feet high, and the ceiling curved on a 10 foot radius.
From the Westside Tunnel we continued our way until we came to the Loop. The Loop is the only switch-back on Going-to-the-Sun Road. The original design for Going-to-the-Sun Road involved many more switchbacks and steeper grades. That design was abandoned and replaced with a single switchback known as “The Loop.” We stopped and met up with the van and tour guide Dave. The grade immediately ramped up from 5 percent to 8 percent. Amazing what a few percentage points will mean and how much more energy you need to put out to maintain the same pace as before.
Sites along the Way
Bird Woman Falls is named after the Native American wife of one of the early settlers of the area. The falls lie between three mountains, Mt. Oberling, Mt. Clements, and Mt. Cannon. The water fall is near the summit along 'Going to the Sun' road. Haystack Creek runs directly below the road. As we rode along we could hear the water flowing down the mountain.
Logan Pass
We reached the summit at Logan Pass by 10:30. As we climbed the mountain we could feel it getting colder and colder. Snow was visible on the mountain sides and near the road.
By the time we reached the summit we were ready to take a break. To climb Going-to-the-Sun Road on a bicycle was a truly wonderful, challenging, sweat-filled experience. But I think an even more impressive feat is what Dave Voelz, a fellow cyclist on the tour, accomplished. Hand cycle Dave, well that’s what everyone called him, rode up the entire 20+ miles on a hand cycle - no legs propelling him upwards, just arms, shoulders, hands. A great achievement.
His story is worthy of repeating if for nothing else than to marvel at the sheer courage, mental toughness, and inspiration he demonstrated by just doing it. Dave, a tall, lanky man, learned three or four years ago that he had a tumor in his spine. He spoke with many different doctors and surgeons and learned that surgery was the only realistic option. He decided to have the surgery. He asked all of the different doctors (at least 4 different surgeons) what would be his experience after he had the surgery. Dave is an athletic man - he's a runner, mountain climber, and cyclist. The physicians he spoke to mentioned that he might feel some numbness or tingling in his legs. No one mentioned that he might be paralyzed. Well he had the surgery and the next day when he awoke he could not feel his legs. The doctors never told him that he might never walk again. I can’t imagine what goes through your mind when you realize that you aren’t going to be able to do all the things you had been able to do without even thinking about it. To his credit and to the support of his family, Dave climbed Going-to-the-Sun Road the entire way. Remember, cyclists have to be off the road by 11 am. Tour guide Dave said that hand-cycle Dave was about 10 minutes from Logan Pass when the clock turned 11. But tour-guide Dave was going to be damned if he was going to make him get off the road and get into the van having gone as far as he had. Way to go Dave.
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We went to the visitor center to use the facilities and to walk around but we learned very quickly that the facilities were not heated. At this point, I was freezing. The temperature at the top of Logan Pass could not have been more than 45 degrees. Snow was on the ground near the summit so it had to be pretty cold. The cold temperatures coupled with my sweat-soaked clothing meant I was cold. Really cold. I had sweated so much on the ascent that I was soaking wet. I should have packed an additional coolmax t-shirt and jersey to change but I did not think that far ahead. I suggested to Kevin that we get back on our bikes and ride down the other side of Going-to-the-Sun Road, just so that we could warm up. In fact, the weather on the east side of the pass and the west side of the pass is surprisingly different.
The Continental Divide plays a very important role in the different weather patterns for the east and west side of the pass. On the west side of the pass, the weather tends to be warmer, less windy, and wetter. The weather on the east side is colder, windier, and sunnier (not today). When these two weather patterns meet at Logan Pass it can be very unsettled. Temperatures can rise or drop very quickly.
We returned to our bicycles and began our descent of Going-to-the-Sun Road with chattering teeth, freezing fingers that had no feeling, and a glorious downhill stretch that allowed our speeds to climb to over 40+ miles an hour. What a difference gravity makes. Boy that was fun. The road was gradual enough so that there were no hair pin turns. As we made our descent we immediately noticed that the weather began to warm and the sun came out - I thought I was never going to be warm again.
Wild Goose Island and St. Mary's Lake
We continued down Going-to-the-Sun Road and road into St. Mary’s. We stopped and had lunch at a small diner called the Park Cafe. Great food. The place was packed with other tourists and locals. Outside the diner was several picnic tables where we sat and had lunch. The sun came out and I was able to remove my arm warmers and enjoy the warmth of the day. If you are ever in St. Mary’s this is the place to have breakfast, lunch, dessert. They have a t-shirt with their slogan “Pie is Strength.” Needless to say, they have great pies (try the pecan it is terrific). The peanut butter and huckleberry sandwich was large enough for three people. Of course I ate the whole thing.
That is one of the great things about a cycling vacation. You can eat whatever you like and not have to worry about gaining weight. Kevin was introduced to gorp and I don’t think he has eaten any since we returned to DC. With the sun shinning we left the Park Cafe and cycled the remaining 20 plus miles until we finished the day’s journey at Many Glacier Hotel. The ride to Many Glacier Hotel had some rolling hills, great-magestic scenery and few cars.
We finally arrived at Many Glacier Lodge and we were glad. The wind had picked up and even though the grade and the terrain were not difficult we were ready to be at the lodge. When we arrived, we were greated by this spectacular view of Mount Gould in the background and the spectacular Many Glacier Lodge. We arrived at the Lodge earlier than our luggage and had to wait for the van to arrive. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Many Glacier was the enormous fireplace inside the lodge. Comfortable chairs surrounded the fire place but what was even nicer was the slate ledge ringing the entire fireplace. Mind you it was August and something just did not seem right to have this huge fire going (in Washington, we had suffered throught 95+ degree heat) but I made over to that fireplace as fast as I could move sans bike. I was cold and wet and the heat from the fire was absolutely wonderful. We sat their soaking up the fireplace warmth until the van arrived with our gear.
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