After assembling in East Glacier Park, MT for our orientation, we’ll start our cycling without delay on Day 2 with an 8 mile climb to the crest of Looking Glass Hill with its breathtaking vista of Two Medicine Lakes. We’ll continue along the sparsely traveled eastern perimeter of Glacier over the Triple Divide, separating waters that flow to the Atlantic, Pacific and Hudson Bay, and down into St. Mary. Riding in the shadow of mystical Chief Mountain, we’ll trace the course of the Belly River, cross into Canada and descend into the Waterton Valley. We’ll spend two nights at the Waterton Lakes Resort adjacent to the lake in the townsite.
Crypt Lake is considered by many to be the finest day hike in all of the Canadian Rockies and that’s our plan for Day 3. We’ll travel across Waterton Lake by boat and immediately begin a steady ascent above the lake. We’ll pass Twin Falls, emerge from the trees and enjoy magnificent open vistas all the way to Crypt Lake. The final approach to the lake is memorable and includes a scramble through a tunnel and beyond to the glacial amphitheater in which the lake is nestled (11 miles).
Day 4. We’ll have time in the morning to explore the Waterton area and to hike above the town to beautiful Bertha Falls (5 miles). After a picnic lunch its onto our bikes for the return along the Belly Rive to St. Mary Lodge. (50) miles
We’ll enter Glacier Park on Day 5 as we shuttle to Logan Pass atop Going-to-the-Sun Road early the following morning. We’ll hike the magnificent Highline Trail from Logan Pass along the Garden Wall and the West Face of the Continental Divide to the Granite Chalet in one of the most incredibly beautiful high-alpine settings to be found anywhere. Another short gentle climb and we’re atop the Swiftcurrent Lookout, with a 360-degree panoramic view of the glacier-carved rockscape. We’ll then descend below Swiftcurrent Pass into the Many Glacier drainage, passing a series of high-alpine lakes linked by magnificent waterfalls as we head to the Many Glacier Hotel where we’ll spend our next two nights (13 miles). Day 6 is dedicated to exploring the Many Glacier area by boat, horse or foot.
Finally, on Day 7 it’s on to one of the most exciting cyclotouring experiences to be found in North America—the challenge of spectacular Going-to-the-Sun Highway and its summit at Logan Pass (6,640′). How can we describe the experience of Going-to-the-Sun? The awesome glacial snowfields, tumbling waterfalls, the Hanging Gardens, the spectacular vistas that unfold at every switchback as we climb higher and higher. We promise some sweat, but the incredible scenic setting is well worth it. As a reward for that effort, we can look forward to a long downhill to Lake McDonald Lodge for our final night. For our final morning, we’ll have a spectacular ride along Lake McDonald to West Glacier, and continue on to Kalispell where our Glacier & Waterton Lakes tour concludes.
