Day 14. West Glacier
68 miles 2,582 feet
Anticipating a long day, I started early, leaving the campground at 7 am. There wasn't as much climbing so I made rapid progress and reached Whitefish by 11:30, about halfway for the day. Whitefish is a resort town with skiing in the winter and biking, hiking, rafting and resorting in the summer. It is nice, and not typical of other Montana towns I've visited. After lunch I followed a wandering route mapped by Adventure Cycling and was reminded why they are so good. Or more accurately, why the crowdsourcing method they use is so good at finding optimal cycling routes. Today from Columbia Falls the route took quiet backroads avoiding US 2 and deposited me at the point a bike lane paralleling US 2 appeared for the final few miles into West Glacier.
As you can see from the photos, tonight I am most definitely not camping. I landed a last-minute reservation at historic Belton Chalet in West Glacier when I looked for a place last evening at the campground (which had a hotspot fortunately), It used to be a train station bunkhouse when built in the early 20th century. It has improved substantially since. Note to those planning to stay in motels: book early—things fill up quickly.
Today the Going-to-the-Sun highway opened to cars for the season which means my hopes for a carless bike ride to Logan Pass are dashed. So I will start early hoping for lighter traffic early Sunday morning, and I'll take my time, stopping at pullouts. From my hotel to Logan Pass is 32 miles—half what I traveled today—but the elevation gain is 3,300 feet which is about what Loup Loup pass was albeit at a slightly higher elevation.
My plan is to descend to St. Mary's, camp at the NPS campground, and Monday to stay at Many Glaciers which is 20 miles from St. Mary's so this will serve as a sort of rest day. Thanks to Dick Schreiber for suggesting Many Glaciers—I'd never heard of it and it looks beautiful!
Anticipating a long day, I started early, leaving the campground at 7 am. There wasn't as much climbing so I made rapid progress and reached Whitefish by 11:30, about halfway for the day. Whitefish is a resort town with skiing in the winter and biking, hiking, rafting and resorting in the summer. It is nice, and not typical of other Montana towns I've visited. After lunch I followed a wandering route mapped by Adventure Cycling and was reminded why they are so good. Or more accurately, why the crowdsourcing method they use is so good at finding optimal cycling routes. Today from Columbia Falls the route took quiet backroads avoiding US 2 and deposited me at the point a bike lane paralleling US 2 appeared for the final few miles into West Glacier.
As you can see from the photos, tonight I am most definitely not camping. I landed a last-minute reservation at historic Belton Chalet in West Glacier when I looked for a place last evening at the campground (which had a hotspot fortunately), It used to be a train station bunkhouse when built in the early 20th century. It has improved substantially since. Note to those planning to stay in motels: book early—things fill up quickly.
Today the Going-to-the-Sun highway opened to cars for the season which means my hopes for a carless bike ride to Logan Pass are dashed. So I will start early hoping for lighter traffic early Sunday morning, and I'll take my time, stopping at pullouts. From my hotel to Logan Pass is 32 miles—half what I traveled today—but the elevation gain is 3,300 feet which is about what Loup Loup pass was albeit at a slightly higher elevation.
My plan is to descend to St. Mary's, camp at the NPS campground, and Monday to stay at Many Glaciers which is 20 miles from St. Mary's so this will serve as a sort of rest day. Thanks to Dick Schreiber for suggesting Many Glaciers—I'd never heard of it and it looks beautiful!
North Dickey Lake campsite
Adventure Cycling finds these places away from busy roads
Separated bike path leading in to West Glacier
A step up (or 3) from camping with freeze-dried dinners.
