Glacier national park!

Trip Start Jun 13, 2008

Trip End Aug 09, 2008

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Flag of United States Glacier National Park, Montana, United States
Friday, June 27, 2008

while in whitefish, we had our first big scheduling snafu. for days beforehand, we had been trying to glean any information on the road to the sun in glacier national park by calling status hotlines, checking transportation department websites, and talking to other bikers. the road to the sun is the main attraction in the park, and it ascends up the mountains through logan pass where it takes you over the continental divide. it's supposed to be absolutely stunning. however, in montana, they had not only a record snowfall year, but the most recent storm was only about two or three weeks prior. although we checked every day, all we learned was that the road was closed while the plows worked to clear the snow, and it seemed like every time we looked, the proposed opening date was slipping. we took a day off in the vain hope that the road might open, but also, after the century ride, most of the group was pretty beat and needed to sleep in and give the muscles a rest. also, it would give everyone a chance to have a couple hours in glacier national park because our alternate route would skirt us around rather than going through.

because the van couldn't accommodate the entire group, the early risers went to the park in the morning, and we went later in the afternoon

roadside creek

. with our free morning, julie and i met up with cousin karen for a yummy brunch in downtown whitefish. the downtown area was really nice...a nice mix of cafes, bars, restaurants, and a balance of boutique and useful stores. after breakfast, as with the last day off, the morning was quickly filled with laundry, internet, and bike maintenance, and before i had a chance to breathe, it was time to go to the park. as we were getting ready to leave, we spotted a biker (another dan) we had met on the road the day before. he was by himself doing a fully loaded tour from anacortes to his home in the minneapolis/st. paul area. he had landed in whitefish just as we were getting ready to leave for the park, and we invited us to come along with us and spend the night in our lodging. in exchange, he potentially offered his parents' house as a place for us to crash when we got near the twin cities. not a bad deal!

we drove up the road to the sun as far as was open, and then we hopped out to go for a hike. by the time we arrived at the parking lot, we only had an hour or two, so we started around a short loop trail through a cedar grove but then decided to be ambitious and started climbing to go to avalanche lake. our cousin karen had told us that with the rest of the park inaccessible, avalanche lake was the best "preview" of the rest of the terrain. the trail wound uphill and through the trees for 2.5 - 3 miles, and it suddenly opened up on a stunning cirque (i just learned this word

avalanche creek

. it's "a bowl-shaped, steep-walled mountain basin carved by glaciation, often containing a small, round lake") with snowmelt waterfalls tumbling down to the main lake. on one hand, i was quite glad to have seen it, but on the other hand, it made me quite bummed that i wouldn't have the chance to bike the road to the sun.

when we got back to whitefish, julie, brad, and i picked up cousin karen and went out to dinner. apparently, whitefish derived its name from nearby whitefish lake, which got its name through a long story about a turn of the century planting a certain type of fish there. anyway, karen said our visit wouldn't be complete without seeing the lake, so we ate at a restaurant overlooking it. once we finished up our meal, we said our goodbyes and then headed back to get some sleep. with the day's busy activities, it was already after 10, and those alarm clocks come quite early...