Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.
Hungry Horse, MT -> Missoula, MT via Glacier National Park (381 miles)
I got up early to beat the crowd into Glacier National Park. News on the street was that the Going-To-The-Sun Road was going to be open all the way through the park and there was going to be a surge of people heading in. I got to the gate as the sun was rising and there was already a line of 20 cars. Unfortunately, the park ranger at the toll booth informed me that the Going-To-The-Sun Road was still closed past Logan’s Pass. I was debating passing it up and heading to the other side of the park, but I figured I had enough time to do both.
The beginning of the ride was down a flat and winding road along Lake McDonald. The speed limit was a bit slow for my liking, but it was so cold that I couldn’t have driven much faster. Otherwise, my hands would’ve frozen. After I passed Lake McDonald, the road started to wind up the mountain side and the air got significantly cooler. The terrain made for one of best rides of the trip even though there was only small stone wall that prevented me from falling off the side of the mountain.
I had to stop a few times to warm my hands, but I wanted to stop anyway to take pictures of the view. It was a lot like Banff where I found myself wanting to take a picture every 10 minutes.
At one stop a couple asked me to take a photo for them. As I was handing their camera back they looked at my bike in amazement and asked “Where the hell have you been?!” I hadn’t washed my bike yet and it was still covered in dried mud. I told them nonchalantly about my trip up to Alaska and back down. They were astounded and couldn’t believe I had done it by myself. I had forgotten how impressive it was that I had survived that trip. I had met people along the way who had traveled farther than I had, but it was nice to shortly reflect on my accomplishment.
I hadn’t had much expectations for Logan’s Pass considering I didn’t even know what to expect from the Going-To-The-Sun road. The views of the valley, along with Reynolds Mountain and Clements Mountain, were amazing. I found out at the ranger’s station that there was a short hike you could take to go see Hidden Lake, but I knew I didn’t have enough time if I wanted to make it to the other side of the park and get to Missoula before it was dark. I decided to pass up the hike and head back to the entrance to the park.
As I headed back down I was glad that I had gotten into the park early. They had already closed the road to Logan’s Pass and there was a line of 50 cars waiting to get in. Chances are they wouldn’t have much luck since almost everyone I saw was going on the hike to Hidden Lake.
After a quick brunch at the entrance to the park I made my way across HWY 2 over to the east side of the park. My first stop was Two Medicine lake. From above, the lake has that beautiful turquoise color I had grown accustomed to seeing.
I continued along the road heading up towards St Mary’s. The roads started to wind tighter than any stretch I had been on yet. The speed limit never got higher than 30 MPH and often dipped to 15 MPH around hairpin turns. It made for an exciting ride, but I got too aggressive leaning into some turns and ended up scrapping the bottoms of my pipes. Nonetheless, the view the entire way was breathtaking. 
I never made it all the way down to St Mary’s Lake because I was running short on time. I made a stop at a look out point where I could see some of the fires plaguing the park. For the most part, it looked like everything was contained, so they must have kept the Going-To-The-Sun Road closed to clean up any debris. Funny enough I never would see a glacier on this day because most of them were farther North and I didn’t have time to travel that far.
Throughout the day, I noticed all the BMWs I had grown accustomed to seeing were replaced with Harley cruisers. I definitely didn’t fit the cookie cutter mold of most of the riders on the road. First off, most people are bit riskier than I am and don’t wear a helmet. However, the average age is around 60, so I guess they’ve lived a long enough life they don’t care if they die in a minor collision. Other characteristics of the cookie cutter harley rider include a beer belly, white goatee, either a bald head or short white hair, and petite brunette who is 20 years younger riding on the back.
A lot of the day consisted of back tracking, which caused me to do ride more miles than I had wanted. As a result, I was anxious to get down to Missoula by the end of the day. I chose to take a more scenic route along Flathead Lake, but I would soon regret it. The ride was pretty, but the road was only one lane in each direction. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for the fact that everyone in Montana enjoys riding 5 mph under the speed limit. Then, when you have the opportunity to pass them, they decide to speed up and go 5 mph over the speed limit.
I had been fortunate on this trip to know someone in most major cities I was passing through. It afforded me the opportunity to see a familiar face and sleep under a solid roof. In Missoula, I had planned to stay with my cousin Pete, but he was on tour with his band The Lil Smokies. Luckily for me, his wife Erin was still in town and I was able to enjoy a few local brews and some homemade pizza after not seeing someone I knew for 8 days.
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