Bear With Me...

Today I got my wish.  We had to get up early at Apgar because the Park requires that all cyclists be off the Going to the Sun Highway between Apgar and Logan's Pass by 11:00 a.m.  Patty and I headed towards Lake McDonald Lodge and were reveling in the beauty.  The lake was calm and there was very little traffic at that time of morning.  It was...perfect.  We got to Avalanche campground and Patty turned around to head back to her car.  I kept on going...the roads were still flat and the pavement was wonderfully smooth.  Up ahead, I saw something black in the middle of the road.  It was a black bear!  My wish!  He/she started lumbering towards me...maybe 50 yards away when a car came up behind me.  They offered to let me into their car, but I told them I would simply slip around the other side of their car, and before I could even do that, the bear had shuffled off into the brush.  I know...the picture is blurry...but hey, I was excited!

The Going to the Sun Road is pretty flat until just before The Loop...and then you had better like to
climb, because for about the next 10 miles, that is all you're doing.  I stopped to take some pictures, but there was just as much need for me to catch my breath!  I arrived at Logan Pass around 10:15 and enjoyed talking to Bryan, who is a student at the University of Montana and working on his master's thesis.  He had a cycling questionnaire and I was more than happy to fill it out for him.  Patty arrived shortly after, and Steve was right behind her.  We put on our hiking shoes and hiked up the Hidden  Lake trail to take in the beautiful views that surrounded us.  Someone had spotted a bear, another black bear, maybe 200 yards from where we were, and by the time we returned to the parking lot, that same bear was traversing a meadow maybe a half mile away., monitored closely by a binoculared ranger.

The downhill from Logan's Pass was just what you'd expect...fast.  I should have taken some pictures, but when you are exceeding the speed limit set by the Park, sometimes it's just better to keep going.  They have put down new pavement between Logan's Pass and St. Mary's and it is butter smooth.  We are staying at St. Mary's campground, and found out that we get a discount with our Senior National Park Pass.  So...last night, instead of paying $20 for our campsite, we paid $10, and tonight, instead of $23 it was $11.50.  It is the best deal on the planet.