Day 16. Swiftcurrent, Many Glacier
23 miles 1,198 feet
The plan was for a short, rest day and though the distance was short it include about 8 miles of very rough dirt road to reach Many Glacier. But it was worth it and I'm glad friend Dick Schreiber suggested it. He served in the Indian Health Service nearby and knows this area very well.
To get here I started out with a straight, up-and-down ride from St. Mary with a powerful tailwind and made great time. I turned west off the Adventure Cycle route for a 14 mile trip to the Many Glacier region of Glacier National Park. It started out well but then the dreaded sign appeared: Pavement Ends. What followed, until the park entrance, was about 8 miles of rugged, washboarded, rough gravel dirt road with a fair amount of traffic kicking up tons of dust. I have new respect for gravel bikers, but I presume most choose gravel roads without lots of pickups passing them. It was slow going, and facing a headwind which is what the earlier tailwind became when I turned west, but eventually I reached the line of cars at the park entrance booth. (I love these entrance booths because I just wave my Golden Age Passport that I bought for about $40 back in the day—the best deal the federal government has to offer though now it is more expensive.)
About 5 minutes after the entrance I was biking on pavement with no cars to be seen and a grizzly crossed the road about 20-40 yards ahead of me. It was aware of me but not interested. As it reached the other side of the road,, a car appeared and slowed to take pictures. It was a young bear but had it been a sow with cubs I could have been in a pickle. I'm glad I bought bear spray!
I reached Many Glacier and had lunch in the spectacular 1910-era railroad hotel. I had tried to reserve a room there but the only open rooms were $600+ so I found a place to stay at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn a few miles further. They had a cabin with no running water but a shower and laundry building serving the cabins that met my needs. So now I'm relaxing in the sun on a gorgeous, breezy day waiting for my laundry to dry before I can check in to my cabin. One young man walking by asked about my trip and I scored my first "That's sick man!" of the trip.
Reflections on trip so far
Since it's a rest day I'm taking stock of how I'm doing. Since leaving Seattle I've averaged 56 miles a day. If you consider days on the Northern Tier from Anacortes, excluding this rest day, it's 60 miles a day. So this is right where I wanted to be. I've traveled 895 miles, about 1/5 of the way and crossed all the 6 western mountain passes.
I'm holding up well. Minor shoulder discomfort, knees and legs OK. I speak by phone with Amy and the girls occasionally and keep in touch by text and with broader family via email. The blog seems to be working and gives me an outlet for describing the trip.
The bike is holding up extremely well. Today's gravel ride was a sort of test but my steel frame, low center of gravity and especially my wide 26x1.75 Schwalbe Marathon tires took it in stride. I'm very happy with these tires because they are rugged—I've had no flats yet—and wide enough to take gravel. While today's dirt road was the exception for my trip, sometimes the highway shoulder abruptly turns to gravel and it is reassuring to have a wider tire to get through it. Several people on my trip have had multiple flats with their faster Continental tires, and though it is a tradeoff of ruggedness for speed, I'm happy with the Marathons. Of course had I hit the same nail Molly did on Day 4, I very likely would have had a flat too.
I've learned watching others. I saw a teenager wearing a hoodie under his helmet so I've been trying that too. It keeps the sun off my ears and neck. I also use my bibbed foreign legion Adventure Cycle hat under my helmet which keeps the sun out of my eyes when needed. I watched some stronger bikers on Going-to-the-Sun and noticed they were using a lower gear than I was. Since I had a few in reserve with my granny gear I've been downshifting further on climbs since then and it does seem better. My 2 rear flashers and front while flasher seem to be about right. I wear yellow and a safety triangle so I'm doing what I can to be visible.
There are a lot of unknowns of course: midwestern heat, humidity, weather, wildfires and others. But so far, so good!
The plan was for a short, rest day and though the distance was short it include about 8 miles of very rough dirt road to reach Many Glacier. But it was worth it and I'm glad friend Dick Schreiber suggested it. He served in the Indian Health Service nearby and knows this area very well.
To get here I started out with a straight, up-and-down ride from St. Mary with a powerful tailwind and made great time. I turned west off the Adventure Cycle route for a 14 mile trip to the Many Glacier region of Glacier National Park. It started out well but then the dreaded sign appeared: Pavement Ends. What followed, until the park entrance, was about 8 miles of rugged, washboarded, rough gravel dirt road with a fair amount of traffic kicking up tons of dust. I have new respect for gravel bikers, but I presume most choose gravel roads without lots of pickups passing them. It was slow going, and facing a headwind which is what the earlier tailwind became when I turned west, but eventually I reached the line of cars at the park entrance booth. (I love these entrance booths because I just wave my Golden Age Passport that I bought for about $40 back in the day—the best deal the federal government has to offer though now it is more expensive.)
About 5 minutes after the entrance I was biking on pavement with no cars to be seen and a grizzly crossed the road about 20-40 yards ahead of me. It was aware of me but not interested. As it reached the other side of the road,, a car appeared and slowed to take pictures. It was a young bear but had it been a sow with cubs I could have been in a pickle. I'm glad I bought bear spray!
I reached Many Glacier and had lunch in the spectacular 1910-era railroad hotel. I had tried to reserve a room there but the only open rooms were $600+ so I found a place to stay at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn a few miles further. They had a cabin with no running water but a shower and laundry building serving the cabins that met my needs. So now I'm relaxing in the sun on a gorgeous, breezy day waiting for my laundry to dry before I can check in to my cabin. One young man walking by asked about my trip and I scored my first "That's sick man!" of the trip.
Reflections on trip so far
Since it's a rest day I'm taking stock of how I'm doing. Since leaving Seattle I've averaged 56 miles a day. If you consider days on the Northern Tier from Anacortes, excluding this rest day, it's 60 miles a day. So this is right where I wanted to be. I've traveled 895 miles, about 1/5 of the way and crossed all the 6 western mountain passes.
I'm holding up well. Minor shoulder discomfort, knees and legs OK. I speak by phone with Amy and the girls occasionally and keep in touch by text and with broader family via email. The blog seems to be working and gives me an outlet for describing the trip.
The bike is holding up extremely well. Today's gravel ride was a sort of test but my steel frame, low center of gravity and especially my wide 26x1.75 Schwalbe Marathon tires took it in stride. I'm very happy with these tires because they are rugged—I've had no flats yet—and wide enough to take gravel. While today's dirt road was the exception for my trip, sometimes the highway shoulder abruptly turns to gravel and it is reassuring to have a wider tire to get through it. Several people on my trip have had multiple flats with their faster Continental tires, and though it is a tradeoff of ruggedness for speed, I'm happy with the Marathons. Of course had I hit the same nail Molly did on Day 4, I very likely would have had a flat too.
I've learned watching others. I saw a teenager wearing a hoodie under his helmet so I've been trying that too. It keeps the sun off my ears and neck. I also use my bibbed foreign legion Adventure Cycle hat under my helmet which keeps the sun out of my eyes when needed. I watched some stronger bikers on Going-to-the-Sun and noticed they were using a lower gear than I was. Since I had a few in reserve with my granny gear I've been downshifting further on climbs since then and it does seem better. My 2 rear flashers and front while flasher seem to be about right. I wear yellow and a safety triangle so I'm doing what I can to be visible.
There are a lot of unknowns of course: midwestern heat, humidity, weather, wildfires and others. But so far, so good!
Last night's Basic Energy and Electrolyte Replacement
St Mary NPS Campground.
Eating dust for 8 miles on the gravel section to Many Glacier
By the time I got my camera out of my handlebar bag the grizzly was across the road and heading for the bushes. Can you spot the bear?
From the deck of Many Glacier Hotel
I stayed in a cabin like this one.
