Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park has been on our Bucket List for a while, but we haven't gone because it is notoriously packed with people.  But I found an opportunity that sounded ideal: as the road through the park and over the Continental Divide is plowed, the road remains closed to vehicles, BUT open to bikes.  So most of the road is snow-free and vehicle-free!  And it's only like this for a few weeks in the spring and again in the fall.

Cousins!  First time meeting Oliver.

Unfortunately, you can't buy day passes to the Park (limited number daily) until like a week before your visit.  So we made reservations at a home and planned everything out hoping that if I set my alarm a week before the trip, I'd be able to buy a pass.  I set my alarm and tried to buy a day pass and in the couple minutes it took to log-on, they had sold out.  So we literally could not enter the park with a vehicle.  Nooooooooo!

Avalanche Creek (above) and McDonald Creek (below)

McDonald Creek at Red Rock Point (above and below)

I ended up spending the the rest of the day trying to figure out how to get us, plus a couple bikes into the park and take us home again at the end of the day.  I ultimately booked a bike tour shuttle company to take us and our bikes in and then out again later.  It was an expensive hassle, but ultimately worked out better because we didn't have to worry about finding a place to park.

McDonald Creek (above) and Mount Cannon (below)

Anyway, the drive to Whitefish, MT was uneventful.  We drove through Moscow, ID to visit April, Derek, and Oliver whom we hadn't met yet.  Breakfast and a Farmer's Market with everyone and then on to Whitefish.  The Air BnB was great because it had a hot tub and was close to restaurants.

Bird Woman Falls (above) and Logan Creek (below)

The day of the biking, Dohnele and the twins got dropped off at McDonald Lodge and booked a boat tour.  Emma and I continued up to Avalanche Creek where we got dropped off with our bikes.  We headed up from there.  The day was perfect: cool and cloudy.  And the week prior, there had been flooding from snowmelt so all the streams and rivers were up super high.

Mount Oberlin, Clements Mountain and McDonald Creek

There were lots of other bikers on the road, but folks were spread out so it wasn't a problem or ever crowded anywhere.  We biked from Avalanche Creek almost to "The Loop" before we had to turn around and head back for our pickup.  The road was closed just beyond there by snow anyway.

Avalanche Creek (above) and Mount Cannon (below)

We didn't see any bears, fortunately, but we did see a number of deer and one sheep!  We spent another night at the home and then headed home the next day in the pouring down rain...  Which cleared up just west of Spokane.  It was a beautiful drive home, actually.

Columbia River at Blalock Canyon (above) and the lower Columbia River Gorge (below)

Zephyr at Blalock Canyon.  Dohnele and I switched seats here so that I could place an Instacart order that would be delivered just as we arrived back home.