Day 22: Logan Pass to Many Glacier, Glacier NP – 40 miles

First off, Happy Father’s Day to my dad, who has been a huge source of support on this trip.

Second off, huge thanks to Jacob Cloud! This morning he cooked eggs, bacon, and potatoes in camp, and then drove me up the Going-to-the-Sun road and dropped me off at the top of Logan Pass. Part of me says it was cheating, but going through Glacier was a 200-mile/3-day detour anyway and my quads have no regrets. Once we were part way up the road, I was thoroughly glad to be in a car: though not as steep as I expected, the road was VERY narrow and winding, not at all ideal for cars to be sharing with cyclists.

Jacob and I bid each other farewell at the Logan pass visitors center, and I cruised down the other side stopping to take pictures every mile or so. I met Mike and Bruce, cyclists heading from NY to OR, and Mario from Spain riding through all of the west’s national parks. This one, he agreed, is the most beautiful.

I stopped at the St. Mary visitor center where there was wifi (but no cell service) before continuing ~20 miles to Many Glacier campground. After setting up camp, I rode a mile back down to the historic Many Glacier Hotel, and on the way I saw the first bear of my trip! I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if not for all the cars pulled over taking pictures of it’s bum.

Craving sugar, I bought a slice of pie at the hotel snackbar/coffee shop and the guy kindly gave me the wifi password too to enjoy with my pie on the lobby couches. A poor kid with a seasonal job is being forced to wear leiderhosen whike stoking the fire -it’s tacky Swiss chalet theme here, but it’s cozy.  

 Despite being hungry, I don’t want to leave the warmth of the lodge to head back to camp to make dinner.