Caught the train to Whitefish, MT and rode to and around Glacier NP. August 21st - 28th 2016.
The ‘Empire Builder’ Amtrak drops you early in the morning in Whitefish. The first day was a simple ride to the Sprague Creek campground along Lake MacDonald, within the park. The parts of Going to the Sun road are closed to bikes during peak hour – 11am to 4pm. Thus the ride up to Logan’s pass – the peak – has to be done early in the morning.
The next morning I headed out around 6:30am and finished the climb before 10:30am. I enjoyed the downhill ride to St Mary. Feeling good I continued on to the Many Glacier campground, further north in the park. Riding west along Lake Sherbourne were horrible head winds, gusts that a number of times nearly blew me off my bike.
I decided to stay in Many Glacier campground for an extra night, and hike during the day. There were moose about, sheep, many others in the camp site saw some bears. I hiked up to Grinnel glacier. At the hiker/biker site I met a couple from California taking a weeklong trip similar to my own, a French girl spending some time alone after visiting the US for a wedding, and a guy who claimed to be a NFL player. He also was seeking some alone time, apparently having spent a week in the park without notifying his wife. He may or may not have had a missing persons report filed for him. Some of these things could have been true? Maybe?
The next day I continued on bike, back to St Mary, and then south to the Two Medicine campground. Most of the riding was outside the park, on fairly quiet roads. It was a nice ride. Met some interesting regular visitors of the park in the hiker/biker site. One guy who spends his summers on the road, doing a similar route each year around the US. Half of his life on a bike.
The following day I rode along highway 2, back to West Glacier and the Apgar campground. The ride was a bit precarious… a larger highway, little shoulder at times. The second half of the ride was all downhill, I made good time to west glacier. I stayed in Whitefish an extra night, explored the pubs a bit and a folk music festival. Seemed like a nice town. I sat at the bar of some of the pubs, chatted with some staunch Trump supporters.
All in all, a great area to explore on bike.
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