Glacier National Park, Day 3 Chief Mountain and Waterton Park, Canada
Chief Mountain and Waterton Park, Canada
Our stay at Many Glacier was short but quite enjoyable. The third day of our cycling adventure would be a 50 plus mile journey. We would leave Many Glacier Lodge and cycle our way past the thriving metropolis of Babb, Mt., and tackle a 6.2 mile climb up to Chief Mountain Road where we could get a great view of Chief Mountain. We would then enter Glacier National Park, and then cross the Canadian Border and enter Waterton Park. The rest of the journey would take us to the Prince o f Wales Lodge.
The one thing that neither Kevin nor I expected was the rapid change in weather. One minute, the day is clear, sunny, no wind, and a beautfiful day to ride. The next minute, the wind changes and picks up, the clouds come rolling in, and with the clouds, the rain. The saying goes the mountains make their own weather. You got that right. The day was overcast and to my temperature sensitive skin - cold. No bare arms and legs today - no way. brr. - leg warmers, arm warmers, windstop vest, rain shell, and there was a time when I wished for my full finger gloves. The owner of Timberline, Dick G. had joined the tour at Many Glacier and at breakfast he suggested that our leaving should be timed to when the weather looked good but that we should anticipate that the weather would change. Hopefully for the better but we should be prepared to deal with whatever we might encounter. As we were having breakfast, the weather changed three times from sunny, to cloudy and raining, back to sunny. Go figure. At least it wasn’t snowing - yet.
We decided to shove off to catch a patch of good weather but unfortunately my front tire had gone flat during the night. Kevin has become very good at changing tires quickly but it is easier on his back to sit down. We sat down on a couch inside the lodge and proceeded to change the tire. As Kevin was changing the tire, a woman hiker came over and expressed interest in seeing how to change a tire. She mentioned that she was interested in getting back into cycling after having been away from it for a while. I recommended that she seek out a good cycling shop where they could answer all of her questions and provide the best bike for the type of riding she wanted to do. Funny how things turn out. She said that she would look into bicycle shops back in Bethesda, Md. Talk about a small world. Bethesda is not very far from where we live so I recommended our local cycling shop.
My machine fixed and ready to go, we shoved off with overcast but dry conditions. However, that changed quickly. The dry weather left us and turned to a steady drizzle which then turned into a good soaking rain. We decided to stop in Babb and find a place to wait out the rain.
Babb was not anything like we expected. To prepare for our trip, we spent a couple of weeks checking the weather and the only real town that reported the weather was Babb. Funny how your expectations can get the better of you. We were expecting a good-sized town - not necessarily a thriving metropolis but something, well, something a little bigger. Well Babb is not much of a town. In fact if you blink you will miss it.
There are three commercial establishments in Babb, a gas station, Thronsons general store, and the Two Sisters Cafe. We stopped at Thronsons General Store and decided to wait out the rain. The fellow behind the counter was very nice and said that we could wait. We met up with several other cyclists - Linda and Jim and Beryl and Mike. Tour guide Dave also stopped by with the van to see how everyone was doing. Well, I think I can fairly say that we were all miserable. I avoid riding in the rain when we are at home but here we are on vacation and it is pouring outside. I think at one point we all were considering putting our bikes on the roof rack and sagging to the Prince of Wales Lodge. I hate to sag, even when I broke my ankle Kevin had to convince me that riding was probably not a good idea.
The rain finally began to taper off and so we climbed onto our soaking wet cycles and hoped that the sun would replace the dreary, cold rain. I think we hoped that we would either out run the rain or it would pass us by. You know the cartoon of the wily cloud overhead slowly following the stupid sap - well that is exactly what happened to us.
The rain was right on top of us but in the distance toward Canada we could see blue sky and behind us back toward Babb, we could see patches of clear sky. The rain cloud was just overhead and it stayed with us until we arrived at the Canadian border. Everyone else on the tour mentioned that they experienced rain for about 15 minutes. The rain stayed with us for an hour and half.
On this stretch of the adventure, Chief Mountain is an impressive mountain that stands between the United States and Canada. To see the mountain, we began a 6 plus mile climb on Chief Mountain Road. Chief Mountain Highway, is for the most part, the major road that lies between Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Park. The area is characterized by forests, westlands, and fields. (http://www.watertonchamber.com/recreation.html)
Geologically, Chief Mountain is somewhat unique. It stands on the edge of rolling prairie and dominates the entire landscape. Geologists have described Chief Mountain as an isolated remnant of the eastern edge of the upper plate of the Lewis Overthrust. http://www.nps.gov/glac/resources/geology.htm
As we crested the hill, the sun came out for a brief second and the clouds receded just a bit and we were able to see Chief Mountain in the distance. It really dominates the area because of its height and its geologic uniqueness.
Legend of Chief Mountain
Chief Mountain, located in the northwest corner of the Blackfeet Reservation, is considered one of the most sacred areas to the Blackfeet People. The story of Chief Mountain begins with a young Piegan Warrior who was respected by his tribe for his courage and bravery. His knowledge, wisdom, and courage led him to become the war-chief for a large group of Piegan warriors.
After his marriage, he decided that he would no longer go on war parties any more. His wife had a baby and they were very happy. However, several months later, a war party that had left the village returned with only four surviving members. The war-chief was very concerned and felt that those responsible should be punished for their actions. He felt that if they went unpunished, his band would have to face other threats and raids. He held a war feast and asked all of the young men to attend the war feast. After the feast, the war-chief told the warriors that "Friends and brothers, you have all heard the story that our four young men have told us. All the others who went out from our camp were killed by the enemy. Only these four have come back to our campfires. Those who were killed were our friends and relatives. "We who live must go out on the warpath to avenge the fallen. If we don't, the enemy will think that we are weak and that they can attack us unhurt. Let us not let them attack us here in the camp. "I will lead a party on the warpath. Who here will go with me against the enemy that has killed our friends and brothers?"
Brave warriors immediately gathered around him as did his wife who wanted to join the war party but he refused her help and told her to stay in camp with the other woman and elderly. At first, his wife threatened to leave the camp if he left but she eventually agreed to his wishes. The chief left with his men and they defeated the enemy but their war-chief was killed in the battle. They brought his body back to camp and his wife was overcome with grief. She looked for her husband everywhere and everyone hoped that she would regain her balance and resume a normal life.
However, tragedy struck again. One day, her friends could not find her anywhere in camp. They eventually saw her standing on the side of the mountain near their camp. She signalled to the men of the village not to try to stop her. She threw the baby out over the cliff and then she jumped from the mountain onto the rocks below. Her friends and relatives of the village buried the mother and baby among the rocks. They also buried the Chief with his wife and infant baby. “From that time on, the mountain that towers above the graves was known as Minnow Stahkoo, "the Mountain of the Chief", or "Chief Mountain." Legend has it that “if you look closely, even today, you can see on the face of the mountain the figure of a woman with a baby in her arms, the wife and child of the Chief.” (http://www.ocbtracker.com/ladypixel/chiefmtn.html)
US/Canadian Border
After Chief Mountain we finally arrived at the US/Canadian border. The sun really did come out seconds before we crossed into Canada. We got in line with the rest of the cars and waited until we made it to the customs agent at the border. We presented passports and the custom’s agent asked us several questions - did we have any a bear spray, mace, or tobacco products. I think the thing we found most unbelievable was the tobacco products. Cigarettes and cycling are not a good combination. We also did not have any bear spray - bears can be a real threat, they are big, fast, powerful, impressive, and dangerous. A fellow rider probably wouldn’t have minded having some bear spray with her on this section of the trip. Chris and her husband Nate were riding along, Nate was a little ahead of Chris and he had just crested a hill so that he could not see Chris. Out of nowhere, a grizzly bear crossed right in front of Chris while she was riding her bike. Talk about having your adreneline kick in. Grizzly bears are big, no I mean they are really, really big and not very friendly. The locals call bicycle riders meals on wheels. Ugh. Not sure I like that image. Chris didn’t wait around for the grizzly and apparently, neither did the grizzly. She was pretty shaken by the whole thing.
Waterton Park, Canada
The remainder of the ride was absolutely wonderful. We had some great scenic vistas, the rolling prairie - so flat, lush with grasses, flowers, and trees, with the mountains in the distance was so different from the vistas we had experienced on the US side of the border. The warm sunny weather made me forget the morning rain and enjoy the remainder of today’s ride. We also had some challenging climbs along with some screaming - I mean screaming downhills. The downhills make the uphills worth it. But it sure goes way too fast!
The road (Canada 6) was practically empty of cars and traffic. We basically had the entire road to ourselves. There were some stretches where I reached upwards of 45 miles per hour. I think that is the fastest I have ever gone - it was a total blast. Don’t tell my mother or my boss. I think they wouldn’t like that.
We were heading toward the Prince of Wales Hotel. To get there we continued on until we entered Waterton Park. Once we enter the park we had about a 5 mile trek to the hotel. Dick had warned us that this stretch of road always had a head wind. Sometimes the head wind was not too bad, but there had been times when it can be very strong so we should be prepared to deal with the headwind. Cyclists know that wind can be a big help or it can be a big headache. A tailwind is absolute joy - a cyclist’s best friend - your speed is enhanced and you feel like you are flying and putting out hardly any energy. The flip side is a strong headwind is cyclist’s least favorite friend. A strong headwind can be really tough. The stronger the wind, the more energy you need to maintain the same speed. Dick was right, a strong headwind greeted us when we turned onto the road leading into Waterton Park.
Prince of Wales Hotel is about 5 miles from the entrance to the Park. We rode along and in the distance we could see the hotel. It is a pretty amazing, fairy-tale, romantic kind of place. Situated on a bluff overlooking Waterton Lakes, the Prince of Wales Lodge is one of the most impressive and romantic stops on this cycling adventure. When we talked with Carol, she mentioned that the Prince of Wales Lodge was featured in a Lexus car ad. Everytime we saw the ad on television we watched not the car but the lodge. It looks impressive in the commercial, it looks and is more impressive for real. This picture is one that we did not take but I found it on the internet. As you can see, the lodge sits on this bluff surrounded by mountains on the right and Lake Waterton on the left.
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