Lake McDonald to St. Mary, MT

Miles 39.8
Ride time 3:45
Elevation gain 3985'
Miles to date 813.6
Total elevation gained 39,419'

Today we rode up Going to the Sun Road. It was overcast but not raining when we left. Jennifer, Amy and I joined Patty as the last ones to leave. Patty had to be the "sweep" to make sure all got to the top of Logan Pass by 11 am. The first part of the road was brand new surface and smooth to ride on. The raging McDonald Creek was to our left as we rode along. This was one of the most scenic roads I have ever been on. We climbed up after about mile 11 for another 10 miles, the grades were not bad, usually around 6%. it was not too cold either. There were waterfalls that looked like they went for hundreds of feet, sometimes they went right under the road and continued on down the mountainside. The views were stunning and in every direction another wonder met the eyes.
The road was built as part of a public works project in the 30's and the engineering is still impressive. They are having to repair some of the road and at about mile 18 parts were reduced to a single lane and sometimes it was gravel. It was not that bad and the traffic was still OK. As we got within 2 miles of the top of Logan Pass, clouds enveloped us and it felt like we riding in a cloud. It started to get colder. Thankfully, a tailwind pushed us up to the top. We posed briefly for a picture by the sign at Logan Pass, elevation 6644'. We were also now crossing the Contential Devide. It was really fun to be at the top, except it was absolutely freezing and the wind was fierce.
Through the kindness of our "personal Sag", Megan, we had a stash of extra clothes for the ride down the other side into St. Mary. I had on almost everything I owned as far as warm clothing, including all of my rain gear to help with the wind.
People were still going skiing up there so I knew that it wasn't just my imagination. We headed down under pretty windy conditions. The views were spectacular and even though the road was rough in spots, it was still a thrill to go all the way down like that for miles. It got warmer as we descended. We had a tailwind and it was so quiet. All I could hear was the sound of my tires on the road, no wind noise.
St Mary's Lake, being glacier fed, was a palette of blues and greens, with the incredible backdrop of the mountains behind it.
We rolled into St Mary and tried to get our hotel room, but they were strict about a 4 pm check in. We locked up the bikes and headed off to a pie place that was recommended to us. We finally got into our rooms and this place is very nice. This is the same place that Judy and I stayed in whe. We did the Glacier trip in 2003. It is right next to a river and has a view of the mountains from the balcony.
We are losing one of our group, Kathryn, who must leave tomorrow as she had planned. We will all miss her as she is a delightful person and fun to be around. We will miss you Kathryn!