It thunder stormed through the night. I clambered out of my tent at about one in the morning between downpours to relieve myself. To the west sheet lightning provided a mesmerizing light show over the mountain range in Glacier National Park, our destination later that day.
We were camped at St Mary, Montana having crossed the US border a few hours earlier. We had biked south from Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta. Waterton and Glacier are divided by an international border but are a large integrated eco-system. They were named the world’s first international peace park in 1932 and in 1995 the dual parks were designated as a World Heritage Site.
Our route was the Sun Road crossing Logan Pass, the Continental Divide, at an elevation of 2025 meters. The ascent is 12 km with an average gradient of 5 per cent. Because part of the road is closed to cyclists between 11am and 4pm we had risen extra early. I was packing up my tent and gear at 4:30am.
We set off in the cool morning air at the first glimmer of light in the east. The storm clouds had passed, but the air was moist with a lingering mist. A slow trickle of cars were already passing us, getting a jump on the heavy tourist traffic to come. Clouds enveloped the towering mountains like white fungus. At times the mist became a thick fog limiting our vision to about two meters. Even so, the grandeur of our surroundings, the majestic rock faces towering to our left, the penetrating aroma of pine, the glimpses of lakes shimmering under the gauzy brume lifted our spirits.
I had expected the climb to be hard, but the switchbacks didn’t throw sharp gradient surprises at us. A steady, sustainable pace got me to the top a half-hour earlier than I anticipated. I had been told the views from there would be spectacular, among the most scenic in the States. I was disappointed. I could barely see my hand in front of my face. The disappointment was short lived. Within minutes of starting the descent we had passed startlingly from one micro-climate to a completely different one. Mist and cloud to sun and blue skies. It was spectacular; every bit as much as crossing the Rockies on the Icefields Parkway.
The Sun Road was the second big climb of the week. Three days earlier we had climbed to the summit of Highwood Pass, the highest paved road in Canada, Highway 40 in Kananaskis County. It tops out at 2206 meters. That was a tougher day, the climb interspersed…
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