Glacier Park and Montana's Bitteroot region
Yikes! I'll have to rescan this JPEG...be patient!
The cyclist is well advised to visit America's national parks with caution, for roads are narrow and drivers impatient to find packed campsites. Still no cycling trip in America would be complete without a few Parks on the route. In my opinion the nost highly recommended are Yosemite, North Cascades in Washington State, Yellowstone/Teton, and perhaps most of all this gem in Montana, Glacier National Park.
Only one paved road climbs up to Logan Pass and beyond. This shot shows the road as it descends from the pass toward McDonald Lake, still not visible beyond the intervening peaks. The road is in solid conditon, but narrow; and the sense of confinement is made ever more palpable by a rock wall of moderate height which is your sole barrier, from time to time, between the road and an abyss. The climb is steep, but in no place unmanageable; a touring cyclist well trained should find it of minimal challenge. The scenery is specatcular, of mountains, glaciers, and forests. The park has been scoured by numerous forest fires over the decades and attentive climbers will notice, as they sweat their way up the pass, areas with different vegetative patterns on distant ridges.
The weather is usually pretty good by midsummer; even midday temperatures stay brisk at the summit. Nightime temperatures are chilly especially under clear skies.
Riders northbound from Missoula Montana can take the road that skirts east of Flathead Lake and enter the park at West Glacier. The park has rules that uphill riders must reach the summit by 11 AM; to comply with this rule, get on your way by 8 or 9 AM at the latest from below. Its the best time to climb anyway, as the sun climbs the Garden Wall on one side, flooding the valley below with sunlight; while you climb the Garden Wall in reasonable shadow. After your descent to McDonald lake you can continue north to Waterton Park on the Canadian border.
By the way the Park's glaciers are in a state of retreat, due in part to global warming perhaps, but in any case retreating; and may well disappear by the middle of the next century.