Day 17. CANADA Mountain View AB
56 miles 3,415 feet
Today was a beautiful but tiring day riding parallel to the east edge of Glacier National Park and then Waterton National Park in Canada. I stopped every few minutes to take another picture because the landscape was so striking. I started about 7:20 from Many Glacier and the gravel road was easier and faster going downhill. Traffic was light, and the road was in good shape. Crossing into Canada was easy and they let me keep my bear spray!
The pictures tell the story of the day.
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People ask me if I'm doing this with a group or self-supported. In a way, I am with a group: Those following the Northern Tier west to east in 2024. We run into each other sometimes but that is uncommon. I am definitely not with an organized group through Adventure Cycling, Backroads, or another tour group. So that means I am self supported. What does this mean? I carry everything I need including camping gear. I don't have fixed destinations planned and reserved in advance, I have to find food where I can, and if mechanical problems develop it's up to me to fix them. But mostly, I have to plan each day's route, figure out when the Going-to-the-Sun road is open, figure out where I'm going to stay the next night and book it if possible. That is fine, but it also means I need cell reception and time. I try to make reservations because I don't want to be tired and have nowhere to sleep. So far this has largely worked. Last night, for example, there was limited bandwidth in the Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge, but enough for me to make reservations in Mountain View because of several climbs and the uncertainty of crossing the border. (It turns out that I should have pushed on another 15 miles.) I take these arrangements on myself, which many biking this route do also, some without worrying about reservations and willing to wild camp if it comes to that. But the big advantage is I have complete freedom to pick my pace and stop whenever I want.
Tonight I'm staying in a very little town, Mountain View Alberta, in a motel which is an extension of the general store and gas station. The motel is fine. My dinner: burgers and onion rings. But the main reason for not staying here is that if I'd continued 15 mote miles, despite being tired after 56 miles and 3,415 feet gain, I could have been positioned to bike 73 miles to Cut Bank MT the next day. The downside is that would be back-to-back long rides; the advantage is that there is really no place to stay between the US border and Cut Bank. So I will probably stay in Cardston or try for a campground if there is one (not shown on Adventure Cycle) between Cardston and the US border. So this is an example of where someone with prior experience would have thought ahead knowing the landscape to come.
However I was happy to end the day at 56 rather than 71 miles!
Today was a beautiful but tiring day riding parallel to the east edge of Glacier National Park and then Waterton National Park in Canada. I stopped every few minutes to take another picture because the landscape was so striking. I started about 7:20 from Many Glacier and the gravel road was easier and faster going downhill. Traffic was light, and the road was in good shape. Crossing into Canada was easy and they let me keep my bear spray!
The pictures tell the story of the day.
———————
People ask me if I'm doing this with a group or self-supported. In a way, I am with a group: Those following the Northern Tier west to east in 2024. We run into each other sometimes but that is uncommon. I am definitely not with an organized group through Adventure Cycling, Backroads, or another tour group. So that means I am self supported. What does this mean? I carry everything I need including camping gear. I don't have fixed destinations planned and reserved in advance, I have to find food where I can, and if mechanical problems develop it's up to me to fix them. But mostly, I have to plan each day's route, figure out when the Going-to-the-Sun road is open, figure out where I'm going to stay the next night and book it if possible. That is fine, but it also means I need cell reception and time. I try to make reservations because I don't want to be tired and have nowhere to sleep. So far this has largely worked. Last night, for example, there was limited bandwidth in the Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge, but enough for me to make reservations in Mountain View because of several climbs and the uncertainty of crossing the border. (It turns out that I should have pushed on another 15 miles.) I take these arrangements on myself, which many biking this route do also, some without worrying about reservations and willing to wild camp if it comes to that. But the big advantage is I have complete freedom to pick my pace and stop whenever I want.
Tonight I'm staying in a very little town, Mountain View Alberta, in a motel which is an extension of the general store and gas station. The motel is fine. My dinner: burgers and onion rings. But the main reason for not staying here is that if I'd continued 15 mote miles, despite being tired after 56 miles and 3,415 feet gain, I could have been positioned to bike 73 miles to Cut Bank MT the next day. The downside is that would be back-to-back long rides; the advantage is that there is really no place to stay between the US border and Cut Bank. So I will probably stay in Cardston or try for a campground if there is one (not shown on Adventure Cycle) between Cardston and the US border. So this is an example of where someone with prior experience would have thought ahead knowing the landscape to come.
However I was happy to end the day at 56 rather than 71 miles!
Many Glacier Hotel
What looks like smoke is dust from the road ahead
It was no fun entering into this. However it was faster going downhill.
The roadside display said this view shows where the prairie meets the mountains, It was a beautiful, abrupt transition within Waterton Lakes National Park.
No more mountains!
