July 7 - Glacier National Park - 170 miles

Today was our day to just take it easy and ride into and around Glacier National Park.

We wanted to take the "Going to the Sun Highway", having heard how scenic that was. Norm hadn't been there before, and while I had taken that highway about three years ago, the day I went in on my motorcycle was rainy and cold, and by the time I got to the top of the pass, it was in total fog, and I couldn't see more than about 50 feet.

So, we first rode East to West on that highway (about 55 miles), had lunch at the town of West Glacier, and then rode West to East on the highway (another 55 miles).  We'd been told that the views were different enough from the two directions to make it interesting to ride both ways, and that was definitely correct. If we had our choice, and could only go one way, we'd go from West to East - that was more spectacular.  Lake McDonald, on the West side of the park, is exceptionally beautiful.  It is about 12 miles long, nearly 500 feet deep (glacier-carved), deep blue, and beautifully forested all around.

The day was just perfect, and while on our trip from East to West, some of the mountain tops were in the clouds, on the trip back we had blue skies with puffy white clouds and excellent visibility.  Those of you who have been into Glacier know how spectacular it is, with tremendous rocky cliff mountains, barren and solid rock above the tree line, beautifully forested up to that point, and high craggy sharp mountain tops.  There were still lots of spots of snow left, many beautiful water falls, and a ruggedness that had its own beauty.

The town of East Glacier, where we are staying, is about 30 miles from the east entrance to the Park at St. Mary's, and this turned out to be a blessing.  The views from the road going from East Glacier to the St. Mary's entrance to the park are absolutely gorgeous, and the riding for motorcycles is splendid, with lots of curves to be enjoyed.

Well, now its on to Canada tomorrow, so we'll write more when we get there.

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