39 miles
Wonderful dinner at the Foursquare church in Whitefish
Since we had a relatively short ride today with few hills, Ken suggested that we could leave Whitefish late and ride to Glacier/Lake McDonald Lodge by 3 :00 p.m.
Most of the group went downtown in the early morning. Ed went back to Glacier Cyclery and bought a "Going to the Sun" jersey. The superstitious side of me made me not want to buy one as I did not know if I will make it tomorrow over the pass.
Later in the morning we rode the back roads out of Whitefish to avoid the traffic. Some of the county roads were peaceful with little traffic. It was a nice morning. Eventually we hooked with Hwy 2 heading east and the traffic picked up.
Early morning in Whitefish
Leaving Whitefish on a county road
We passed Columbia Falls and then got into Hungry Horse. This town is famous for its Huckleberry cuisine. I was riding with Ziva and Tom. We found a Huckleberry Café and I had a great huckleberry shake.
Then we climbed a bit to get to the entrance of Glacier National Park. Since bicycles are not permitted to be on the Going to the Sun Hwy after 10 :00 a.m. we had to pull into a village called Afgar and wait there until 4:00 p.m. before we could ride again.
Near Glacier with sign showing good news: "Going To The Sun" Hwy open.
Ziva, Tom, and I decided to park our bikes at Afgar and take to shuttle to Logan Pass to see what we would be riding tomorrow. It took 1 ½ hours on the shuttle to reach the top. The weather was cold and we had to wait in different construction zones before we could proceed. Seeing the steepness of the Going to the Sun road made me a little concerned if the weather would be bad.
Entering Glacier
In the evening we had dinner in the cafe at the lodge. Our meeting that night took place in the parking lot of the lodge.
I shared a room with Dick this night.
Hotel rooms we stayed in at Lake McDonald
Outside meeting going over tomorrow's route
Lake view at McDonlad Lodge
Dinner at the lodge was nice -- rustic and comfortable; I also recall good conversations that evening. It seems the good character of our group began emerging by this time. Reading your blog Chuck, I realize how slowed pace I have been -- moseying.
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