Gig Harbor Washington to Bar Harbor Maine 2001

Well, the 5am trick worked this time. I was laying in my tent contemplating the growing light when Gridley announced "Five Bells." He and I had our tea and cereals and broke camp and were on the road by 6:30. We learned later that Garcia and Kathryn left at 7.

The time is accurate.

The temperature dropped from 42 to 37 as we gained a little altitude. We weren't cold except for our toes and didn't mind anyway. There was too much to distract us. We practically had the road to ourselves and could weave and stop as needed to admire the sun hitting a new peak, listen to another waterfall or create our own little waterfall. A bicycle is definitely the way to see Glacier.

I captured the sun.

Gridley spotted a bizarre bird that posed for a series of pictures.

Gridley's bird

I eventually captured the sun rising over the peaks and took a multitude of other shots. The climb started very gradual and slowly became steeper. Each time I got back on my bike after stopping for pictures my legs would scream at me. The road is a series of switchbacks. Near the end you can see a long straight, steep climb. I had taken a few pictures of the amazing valley when I drove through last year and figured I could skip it this time. My legs thanked me.

The final stretch

We got to the end of that stretch and stopped where there was a sign proclaiming 1/2 mile to the pass. The same ranger who had relayed Kathryn's concern last night pulled up and told us that they weren't far behind. I waited long enough to get some distant shots of them and sped up to the pass.

I set up a great series of shots of Garcia conquering the pass with a sign proclaiming "6% grade next 12 miles" in the foreground. Unfortunately I left the lens cap on. I tried again with Gridley and Kathryn. We took pictures of dozens of people, with their own cameras, in front of the Logan Pass sign and got a few of ourselves taken, too.

On The Sun

We picnicked, explored, and answered endless questions about our bikes, trailers and sanity by the endless motor tourists. Sean showed up a few minutes after 11. He'd camped a few miles before we did and didn't leave till 8. He was taking pictures at 10:30 when a ranger told him he'd better get a move on.

The descent was the best I'd ever experienced. I'd been warned to pull over frequently to let my brakes cool down, but I didn't use my brakes much. The road and traffic were mostly conducive to wide-open sailing, although a pokey Winnebago had me braking and cursing for the last couple of miles. Garcia caught me and we rode together the last few miles to the Rising Sun campground.

We had talked about taking a day off to recuperate after Going To The Sun, but nobody really needs it. Instead we're just camping early, before we leave the park, and showering, napping, writing, swimming, whatever it takes to put the perfect end on a perfect day.