Day Nine: Saturday, July 28

Saturday, July 28, 2018

The day began very cold. The temperature at our hotel was 52 degrees, and the temperature in the Park was 41 degrees. 

One of the peaks in Glacier National Park is named “Going to the Sun.” As such, the road through the Park is called the Going to the Sun road. 

The trip from our hotel to the Glacier National Park gateway was approximately 30 miles. It was cold, very windy and there was low cloud cover. It did not look promising. But it seemed that as soon as we entered the Park, the wind subsided, the temperature slowly improved and the clouds gradually lifted.

The Park roadway was typical of what we've seen in the National Parks - two lane roads with low speed limits, which are in pretty good shape.

Our first stop was to take the Cedar Trail. It was a path/boardwalk through towering pines. But along with the pines, there were hemlock and cottonwood trees. As you enter the trail, they make it pretty clear that there are bears, and you should take precautions.

We had a great time hiking the trail/boardwalk:

The boardwalk resembles Starved Rock State Park in Illinois.

 My wife unleashed a monster when she bought me that selfie stick.

The Cedar hike included a stream.

There were hiking trail heads everywhere. Most people say that pepper spray is better to repel bears than anything. And a lot of people headed off into the bush with pepper spray. I prefer a Glock. 

We noticed tour vehicles in the Park that were really cool. They looked old and we could not determine if they were new but built to look old. 

One of the guides told us that these vehicles were built by the White Motor Company between 1936 and 1939. They have wooden framework, which was covered with metal. The body and the chassis of each vehicle is original. But everything else has been replaced. The National Park Service bought 35 of these in the late 1930s, of which 33 are still on the road. They seat four across and have a canvas roof which can be pulled back.

The Park also had a shuttle service with bus stops. There was a lot of traffic, and we wanted to pull over more often than we did. But often, there were no parking spots.

We stopped on the way up the mountain, because the views were spectacular. 

We kept the bikes in the scramble position.

The flowers remained in bloom. 

The pic below is my favorite, taken by Larry.

At the Logan Visitor’s center at the summit (Logan Pass, the Continental Divide), we were able to get a parking place – as they had a special area for parking motorcycles.  The views were great, they had a trailhead and they had fantastic exhibit boards.

For those of you who know Larry, you know that he sometimes goes on walkabout. Larry just disappears. And after a while, he re-appears like a yo-yo. He's in Larry-Land. This is a selfie of Randal and me with exasperated looks on our faces, waiting for Larry to come back from his walkabout. 

As we traveled down the far side of the mountain, there was a huge lake on our right. 

The water was so calm, it was like a mirror.

As we came down to the bottom of the mountain, there were two grizzly bears to our left, just off the roadway. One of the guides told us they were "yearlings" or young bears. 

From there, we traveled to the Park visitor center on the east side of the Park, and I left my pack on my motorcycle when we toured the building and watched the movie. More on that later. 

We circled around the southern edge of the Park through the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. We had to do some "four wheeling'" with our bikes. There was a lot of construction and "loose gravel," and a road that was horrible.

At that point, it was time to feed Randal and we pulled into the "World Famous" "Whistlestop Restaurant." I hear they talk about this spot in Europe. 

We tried the Huckleberry Pie, and it was pretty good. How could you not have the Huckleberry pie in a world famous restaurant. I should check the Michelin Guide to see if they retained their star. Not only is the restaurant "World Famous," but it is located next-door to the World's Largest Purple Spoon. It is apparently a well-known corner of the world right there in South Succotash, Montana.

From there, we rode back to our hotel - effectively a log cabin. It has fire pits, outdoor barbecues, a beaver pond, a bar and a restaurant. I love this place:

Glacier National Park was great - we saved the best for last. It was everyone's favorite.

We are holed up in our hotel in Hungry Horse, Montana after riding 188 miles today (2,997miles in total from Wheaton):

Tomorrow is an easy day, a late departure and a short ride to Missoula for my last day on the road.