Day 9. Going to the Sun.

We had an agenda today, were up before 6:00 am, out the door and kick stands up before 7:00. We made a beeline for Glacier National Park and were through the gates into the park by 7:30! The purpose of this was to beat the tourist traffic (knowing that we are tourists ourselves!!) and have a smooth ride up the Going to the Sun Road. This is a bucket list ride for any motorcycle enthusiast and I have been reading about it for years. The road is orientated West / East, hence "Going to the Sun". Our early start paid off and we had an amazing ride through the park, up to and across the Continental Divide and down the other side.

As we travelled along, the views became more and more spectacular even though somewhat muted by the haze from the smoke.

We made it to Logan's Pass to find the parking lot already full and cars circling in vain looking for a spot. Thankfully there was designated motorcycle parking and no other motorcycles in sight so we had our pick of choice spots!!

Then we took a quick walk out to the meadows to be greeted by amazing views.

We then resumed our ride and were able to see our first glacier, Jackson Glacier, from the roadside. Sadly the glaciers are all melting and there are now only 25 left, compared to 150 in the 1800's. apparently a snowfield becomes a glacier once enough snow has accumulated to create a dense ice pack which then starts moving. If enough snow melts away, the pack stops moving and it is now a snowfield again rather than a glacier.

We extended our ride by heading up to the Many Glacier part of the park and were greeted by more spectacular views.

Finally, we found the perfect spot for a picnic and had our lunch!

We pointed our wheels back towards Kalispell and enjoyed the same amazing ride back home again.