Trans America Bike Ride 2019: Day 39 July 8, 2019

Henry's notes for today:

Day 39: We arose, knowing that today was the big day for us to ride into Glacier NP to claim our campsite, preferably at the Rising Sun Campground on the east side. We had a filling breakfast and started on our way. About 15 miles into our ride, at the junction of Star School Rd and Hwy 89, we ran into major road construction. Bad news - bikes were not allowed on the single lane road at all! The solution was that all 4 of us, including bikes and packs, were loaded hastily onto the pilot truck. Nothing was tied down or secured in any way. Three of us rode unceremoniously in the back with our gear. The good news is that we were transported about 3 miles up a relatively steep hill with one lane and no shoulder, which would have been impossible to ride safely otherwise. As we continued, we reached another continental divide between the Hudson Bay and Missouri River watersheds. This was at 6,010 feet of elevation. We then promptly lost 1,600 feet of elevation as we dropped down to the east entrance of Glacier NP at St. Mary. As we rode into the park, there were many vehicles parked to observe a grizzly bear about 50 yards away. We arrived at Rising Sun campground at 11 am and had no trouble claiming the hiker/biker tent site. There was already another biker and a hiker there, but the site was big enough to fit all of us. After setting up our tents and storing our food in the bear-proof locker, we went to get some lunch at the campground restaurant.

Grizzly cub

Hidden Lake

Post-meal, we hopped onto the free shuttle that took us up Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass. We hiked to Hidden Lake overlook, still partially covered with snow and also walked part of the High Line trail. It was a perfect weather day, and the scenery was spectacular. There were numerous mountain goats in close proximity to our hike. They certainly have been desensitized to humans trekking all over their territory. There is quite a mad crush of tourists at any NP during peak travel season these days, and the experience is not what Teddy Roosevelt imagined he was leaving future generations as a legacy, no doubt. We rode the shuttle back to our campground, and had dinner at the same restaurant. In our 2 outings there, we encountered 1 Taiwanese and 3 Turkish servers, as the NPS hires young people from all over the world for these coveted seasonal jobs. Our final event of the day was to attend the Ranger Liz talk at the campground amphitheater. We discovered 2 more bikers and 1 more hiker at our now very full campsite, and chatted some over a campfire before succumbing to our fatigue. We will be getting up early tomorrow to ascend the east route of Going to the Sun Road before the daily traffic jam.