Sunrise 5:47 a.m.

Duckie departure 5:30 a.m.

Even as we loaded our bikes with all our gear, we could feel the wind blowing and knew it would not be to our advantage.  We were “Going to the Sun” this morning; Glacier National Park’s most famous road. It is a 22 mile trek straight up the Continental Divide….that Mountain in front of us!

The “fly in the ointment” was, we had to have it completed by 11:00 am (National Park time allotment).  Tough to climb a steep mountain (and take pictures) under a time constraint, but that was our only option.  So, out of the door with no coffee and half a stale cinnamon roll.

We had a ten mile pedal to get to the “climb”, scary thought since we were doing our best to make forward progress on this part, especially with the wind in our face.  Naturally, it was beautiful.

Nestled deep in the forest, we could see the moss covering the forest floorwhile looking for any bears that may be concealed in the darkness. We could hear the music of the streams rushing down the mountain; magical when we could catch a glimpse. We watched the sun kiss the mountain top, then retreat behind the clouds rolling over the mountains.  

We hoped the 40% chance of rain predicted, would hold off at least until we reached the summit.  But the wind in our face was also quickly blowing the clouds over the mountain towards us.Our progress was laboriously slow, stopping as little as possible with the clock ticking in our minds, but managed a “few” photos (okay, close to 400, between the two of us). Someone had told us the first six miles up was the toughest, but they must have only gone five miles; there was no part of this ride that was easy, gorgeous YES,

nearly a 500 foot drop.

Two tunnelsone critterand the most incredible Heaven’s Peak summit.Standing at 8987 feet, it was impressive from every angle.Other than that it was mountain peaks, glaciersand waterfalls of all kinds…..and then The Summit…..by ten o’clock in the morning.You would have thought we’d climbed Mt Everest, but we were ecstatic with our 3000 foot climb to Logan Pass.  Even the sun came out to light the mountain tops.Fabulous.

We hesitated to leave, but our trip into town was not a short one, nor all down hill.  Dropping down the greener east side of the pass we were met with a gusty headwind, more incredible viewsand an unbelievable shot of this glacier.Still more climbing, albeit not nearly as steep or long, but tough on our tired legs.  On our twenty plus mile ride from the top and stunning views.Took a lunch break along St. Mary’s Lakeand noticed the clouds were forming again, with gusto.This is Triple Divide Peak,one of the few places on earth whose waters feed three oceans (Pacific, Atlantic or Arctic ocean).  And then we come to the point where the Rockies meet the prairie.  Only forty miles today, but we were toast.  We watched from our motel perch the storms forming over the mountains.Then the wind swept down bringing with it arctic temperatures and rain. We hustled inside and put on every stitch of clothing we could find, it was Cold.

Thankfully, the rain stopped in time for dinner and a slice of Razzelberry Pie ala mode.