Day 16: July 1, Pinnacle, MT -> East Glacier

Start: 6:40 AM

Finish: 10:53 AM

Saddle Time: 3:08

Ascent: 1,832 feet

Descent:  741 feet

Miles: 35 miles

Total Miles: 820

Highlight: Climbing Marias Pass and reaching the continental divide.  It’s all downhill from here, right?

Lowlight: Ending the day way too early at 11:00.  Wish I could have gone further but nowhere to stay down the road.

Cyclemeter:  Follow this link to see the data I’m collecting with the cyclemeter app. You can see GPS information, speed, elevation, distance, cadence and heart rate. Better viewed on a computer where it’s easier to play around with the graphs.

Today was a good day, one I’ve been looking forward to for several days, my last climb in the Rockies.  Got an early start and it was nice and cool with a brisk breeze, almost wanted to put on my sweatshirt but knew I would be climbing soon.  The climb stated almost right away but was very gradual, mostly 3%-5% grade so way easier than previous passes. The scenery was actually really nice as well.  I felt comfortable enough knowing I would finish easily that I stopped frequently to take pictures.

My route continued on highway 2 but it seemed more pleasant today, less traffic since it was early but also better quality road surface.  I had many scenic views of the river below, even saw mountain goats for the first time on the trip.  I saw the by accident as I stopped to take a picture of the river, heard a noise right below me, looked down to see goats.  They didn’t seem to care about my presence.  Not something anyone driving by would see.

I passed an older couple from Maine I met a couple days ago.  I said “Hi Main” as I passed and got a “Hi Connecticut” in return.  This reminds me I should comment on the people I meet along the way.  Some may believe you need to be in top physical condition to do something like this.  Not true!  I’ve met all sorts out here from your women entering medical school to couples much older than me.  Some look like they could run an Ironman while others don’t look like they leave the couch all that much.  This is definitely more mental than physical.  The physical component just dictates how much time it will take, one month for the young guys who can do century rides day after day to three months or more for those puttering along at 40 miles a day.  I’ll fall somewhere in the middle.

Made it to the top of Maria’s Pass and the Continental Divide by 10:00. Finally, goal accomplished.  Took some pictures at the top of the sign and an obelisk constructed in 1931 to honor Theodore Rosevelt, resembling the Washington Monument.

Now I get to recover some of the pain and suffering of the past couple weeks and coast down the eastern side of the Rockies.  Well it’s not that simple but there was a lot of coasting into East Glacier.  Along the way I entered Blackfeet Tribal Territory.

Made it to my motel very early, way too soon to consider checking in so I went out in search of lunch.  Not much in this town but I saw a sign for a restaurant down the road heading into Glacier.  I had a long conversation with a retired couple riding the same route as me, hopefully we will meet up again.  We did meet some of the same people along the way like the father and son team and the couple from Maine. All of us will probably leapfrog each other on the way east.

Leaving the restaurant I had a run in with tribal police.  I was riding down the road towards my motel when a guy in a pickup stopped on a dirt road waves me over.  The guy looked somewhat official but not like a police officer.  I quickly discerned he must be tribal police.  The gun on his hip was a clue but this is Montana after all. He asked me “can I see your recreation permit?”. I looked at him strangely and said “Sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about.”.  He said “you need a recreation permit to be on tribal territory. If you don’t have one then there’s a $100 fine.  Can I see your ID”  I immediately suspected this was like a third world shakedown, some dude abusing his power to pocket money.  Let’s take advantage of the lone cyclist.  I said “so everyone in all the cars passing by us has to have these permits?”  He said “no, only if you are recreating on tribal land.”  So I said “what do you mean by that?”.  He said “if you are hiking, camping or going off road”.  I said “well I’m just like the cars, I came in on highway 2 and I’m staying tonight in a motel, tomorrow I’m heading to Cut Bank.  I’m not going off road.  This is a road bike not a mountain bike”. He said “you’re off road right now”.  I was standing on the dirt road where he was parked, adjacent to the paved road I was riding on.  This went on for a while with me getting increasingly angry but trying to stay cool.  Finally he let me go.  Turns out the permit is a real thing and is needed if you are hiking or doing anything off road in the area.  I don’t know why he singled me out, if it was a shakedown or if he saw the tent strapped to my bike and assumed I was going off road.

I booked my motel online a couple days ago while is taking my rest and planning day in Eureka. It was the only thing available here or in the next town of Browning about 15 miles away. At $250/night I really didn’t have a choice if I wanted to stay indoors. Turns out my room is actually a cabin out back which is very nice, basically a large studio apartment with a full kitchen. Remote and quiet, perfect. The retired couple I met earlier were staying at the same motel but she called yesterday and was able to get a relatively inexpensive room. I’ll take this as a lesson for future days, if places look full or really expensive online try contacting the place directly. Apparently they were not done cleaning the room when I arrived, the bed hadn’t been made, but I jumped in and took a shower.

East Glacier is a small town on tribal territory. The owners of my motel are clearly native along with many locals I saw walking around. There are a few restaurants in town, one was closed on Thursdays, one I ate at earlier then there was a third which I ate at tonight. My waitress seemed a little confused, figured she was new. It took a very long time to get my drink, then salad, and later food. I overheard the manager saying to a customer today was their first day, they just opened. Makes sense. Wish I had know this would take so long, I wold have brought my laptop and used their decent wifi to get some posts out. Tomorrow is another short day with a possible motel stay again so maybe I can get caught up.