Archive for September 21st, 2005
We are leaving Prince of Wales and heading to Glacier Park Lodge today.
Our first choice is whether to take the boost to the top of the first hill. The route for today starts at the bottom of a 6 mile uphill. The thought of starting the ride cold and doing a hill immediately is not enticing. So I (and all the girls) chose to take the van boost. The guys (all of them *snicker*) and Shannah are dropped off at the bottom of the hill. The usual percentage is 10% of the participants do the first hill. Our group is at 50%.
At the top of the hill us ladies are dropped off and I get my bike seat swapped for mine from home. Woot. Now that is a wonderful fix. The ride for us begins with this completely wonderful winding downhill. The scenery is gorgeous and the rode is pretty empty. So turns can be taken wide and enjoyed fully. I stopped a few times just to admire the views. The only part of this leg that was a problem was the long time between St. Mary’s where we dropped off the boys and the next rest stop. Too much liquid in the am starts to kick in and it is decided (me and another rider) that a “blueberry picking” expedition would be a good thing. We find a nice area with bushed right by the road and leave our bikes and head into the wilds. Unfortunately, at this point Bill comes up on us and seeing only bikes … stops to see what is going on. Sigh. No privacy. So we loudly explain about the “blueberries” and send him off. Just as he leaves .. I hear a vehicle approaching … and slowing. Sigh. The support van. Melissa of course spots the bikes, but not people, so she too stops to see what is happening. After waving her off (with the van), we are finally able to finish up with the “blueberries” and get back to biking. Moral of the story, take turns picking berries so that others will not stop to lend assistance. Anyway ….
We continue through some lovely rolling hill and meet up with the van in the valley where we will turn off the main road and take a side road back into the park. The next portion is a 3 mile uphill with no shoulder. Joanne, Liz and I decide to opt for another boost. 37 miles is a respectable distance for a ride through the hills. =)
At the top of the hill, we meet up with Bill and Scott while unloading our bikes. Another glorious downhill on a winding road with no shoulder. Thankfully, we are going the same speed as cars … so no one needs to pass. This was probably the most technical and most exhilirating ride on the road for this trip. I so wanted to ask for a boost back to the top to do it again. I was able to catch up to the boys on the downhill with Joanne close behind.
We decided to do the Two Medicine loop which takes us to the designated lunch stop. It was fun to ride with the 4 of us staying pretty much together. The lunch spot had a lovely little falls coming right out of the rock. Very cool.
We then biked out to Two Medicine Lake up another winding hill (yay) and took in the view and some hot coffee. On the ride back out, Bill almost took out some guys door who had chosen to stop at the end of a switchback and pull over a bit while sitting with his door open. Thankfully for me, I was taking it all slow and saw it. Anyone taking that corner wide would have been flattened pretty readily.
After that … it was all rolling hills again with plenty of “black moo bears” to admire along the way. We rolled up to Glacer Park Lodge and after asking for directions from a security guard … we found the van and our room keys.
This lodge was nice, but again loud. There wasn’t much sound proofing in the doors … so all the kids running in the halls were heard everywhere. The thing sort of reminded me of the lodges you see in the movies from the 50’s and 60’s set in upstate New York.
We had a memorable Mexican dinner in East Glacier. They could only fit a group our size on the patio … so we ate Mexian huddled on a patio bundled up to stay warm. It was a different experience. But the food was good and the margaritas were nummy.
September 21st, 2005
Our day to do our own thing. Joanne and I chose to go horseback riding. What fun. Something new for me.
They matched us up well with our trusty mounts. Tex was a lovable guy. Yet had this slightly annoying habit of dawdling along. So we would drop back a bit … then he would trot on up to the back of Juniper. He did this for the entire ride. Couldn’t seem to just walk at a brisk pace with everyone else. Juniper on the other hand (Joanne’s horse) was the master of snacking. Everytime I looked ahead … there she was grabbing a mouthful of grass. She did this for the entire 2 hours. It was just hysterical.
We rode through some lovely little rolling hills with small creeks. Did a couple crossings. And saw a young black bear near the path at one point. We moved off the path and gave it a wide berth. It seemed completely uninterested in us. Then we spotted a larger black bear eating a deer just down the hill from the path. It was kind of neat to see the bears. Close enough to enjoy them … but not close enough to bother the horses.
Horseback riding is definitely on my fun to do list now. =)
Bill and Scott took their bikes off for a ride up to a lovely lake for some kayaking.
After riding, Joanne and I met up and went for a walk through Waterton looking into some of the fun shops. Paying a visit to Lick and Nibble (ice cream shop) and several small pharmacies trying to find some advil. We also went around checking out all the menus in town to find us a good place for dinner.
We decided to dine at another lodge in town. They had a lovely little bar where we had our happy hour. Paralyzers sure are tasty. =) Then had a completely fabulous dinner in their restaurant. Great vanilla chicken. If I can recall then name of the lodge … I will post it.
September 21st, 2005
We were told that breakfast started at 6:30 and that we had a bit of an early start, so all of us where camped out waiting for the restaurant to open. Much to the surprise of our trip leaders. Guess we gave them a little shock. I just wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time for a good breakfast and to get all packed up.
We did a little hike around the lake to meet up with the van and get fitted for our new bikes. After a bit of adjusting, we were off. It took a little bit to get used to the bike. But once I did, wow was it nice. Now I want one at home. *snicker*
We did about 13 miles over rolling hills along quiet highways. Then turned left and for our first uphill. 5 miles of uphill. As would become the norm … there was the van with snacks and water refills. Woo hoo. A girl could get used to this. As luck would have it, I discovered that Joanne and Liz were similar in speed to me so a new little riding group was formed. Off to the big hill. This was quite a change for me. The rolling hills were a snap, but this uphill was pretty taxing. I was having a little trouble keeping my heartrate / breathing down. So … I decided to take lots of “scenic” rests. This put me at the back of the pack, but it was nice to be able to get all the way up the hill to the lookout without having a wheezing attack.
At the scenic overlook, there was the van again. I had decided on the long uphill that I would quit for the day at the top. Putting my ride at just under 20 miles. Joanne had different plan. *snicker* She convinced me to ride the next segment which was mostly downhill with just a 2 mile uphill before the Canada border. I am really glad I did it. It was still quite a bit of work, but the views were again great. AND …. have you ever crossed the border into Canada wearing bike clothes and on a bike? It was really a hoot. “Do you have any firearms?” That was the funniest thing of the entire day. Where did they think I would have it hidden? In my spandex shorts? Maybe under my lycra shimmel? I know that they have to ask, but it just really hit my funny bone.
From there we had a spectular and thrilling downhill ride to the park where lunch was being served. That was probably the fastest I had ever gone on a bike. And a bike I had only ridden for a few hours at that.
Joanne and I decided that we would take the short option at the lunch stop and ride in the van to the end of our journey for the day. I’m very glad we did since there was another long uphill to another overview and then a nice downhill, followed by a stretch right into a big headwind. Bill indicated that the headwind was nothing like it seemed in the van.
Our lodging - Prince of Wales. It is a truly beautiful lodge with a truly magnificent view. To top it off, our entire area of the floor was Backroads guests. =) If only Joanne had talked louder … we could have figured out what she truly thought of us. *snicker*
September 21st, 2005
This morning our our Backroads Trip begins. We are met at 8:00 am in the Grouse Mountain Lodge parking lot by the Backroads crew. They have a lovely spread that we are to make snacks and pack lunch out of. We get to meet our fellow travelers (Joanne, Kathy, Shaun, Bill, Sarah, John and Liz) and our trip leaders (Shoshannah & Melissa). After brief introductions and a couple passes around the food table, we all pile in the van and our adventure begins.
We did the first of our multisport things. A van ride. We got to try this sport several times, and I can highly recommend it in some situations. After a brief stop at West Glacier, we proceeded up the Going to the Sun Road. This is a great way to experience this road. Bill thinks biking it would be a hoot, but I’m not convinced. It is a long uphill that winds around the mountains. We stopped for photos along the way and saw several people biking.
We arrived at Logan’s Pass in the late afternoon. The views are spectacular. We then moved on to our second sport, hiking. This was the first try out for my new hiking boots. Let me say … they rocked. We hiked out a little over 3.5 miles to another wonderful view down the valley. Some spots were a little dizzing due ot the drop off down to the road, but the garden hose hand rail just made us feel so safe. =) We ate our lunches and then hiked back to the van. Our new home away from home. *snicker*
We then had a nice van ride through some of the eastern parts of Glacier to arrive at Many Glacier Lodge. The best description of our stay there can be that it is a view with a room. The room was very small. But when you are in the middle of no where staying in a lodge that is almost 100 years old, I guess it was just fine.
September 21st, 2005
We have the entire day on the train. I keep forgetting how empty North Dakota and most of Montana appear. It is just rolling fields and an occasional town.
We were hoping to have made up some time during the night, but that does not appear to be the case.
One of the new activities on the Empire Builder is an afternoon wine tasting. We happily all signed up. As expected, the wines are passable but nothing we would buy at home. But they had a fun little trivia game that rewarded us with a bottle of wine to take with us. Scott had a little help from his Treo since we were able to get a connection long enough to find out Popeye’s age. 34 in case you wanted to know.
We arrived Whitefish MT around 10 pm. Still a bit late - but not a huge deal. We had reservaations at the Grouse Mountain Lodge and after departing the train, there was a van waiting for us to take us to the Lodge. The service they provide is really nice. The room is your basic large ski lodge style but it is nice to have a big bed. Off to sleep we go.
September 21st, 2005
We are all packed and ready to leave on the train tonight. It is hard to pack for 3 different types of activities and keep it all in one medium size bag.
Scheduled departure - 11:15 pm on the Empire Builder out of St. Paul. Train delayed. We actually got on the train about 12:30. So late start, but still ok.
Our bed was all made for us and waiting for us to fall fast asleep. What a start to the trip.
September 21st, 2005
We recently returned from an active vacation trip to Glacier. We had a truly wonderful time. It was the most fun vacation I have ever been on. It was our first “active” type vacation and it was completely low stress. Who would have thought?
Going with our normal vacation planning process, Scott, Bill and I had a bottle (or two) of wine one Sunday night and discussed possible things we could do. After looking at the wonderful Backroads brochures Brenda had lent us, books on the USFS park lodges and train information. We decided to try a Backroads trip to Glacier / Waterton park. Starting and ending with a train trip on the Empire Builder. We booked it Monday am. =) (Just giving brief history.)
So we left on our adventure on August 18th. Here is my continuing version of our trip. =)
September 21st, 2005