Day 68: Saint Mary, MT to Sprague Creek Campground on Lake McDonald - Seeking a Bicycle Warrior's Death, Part I: The Northern Tier - CycleBlaze

July 12, 2021

Day 68: Saint Mary, MT to Sprague Creek Campground on Lake McDonald

Too Many Tourists

(EDITING NOTE; I added 2 videos at the end)

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Climbing Today; 2,536 ft                       Climbing to Date; 102,087 ft

Very slow internet at the Lake McDonald Lodge where I am sitting in the lobby to have wifi access.  I'm not sure if my photos will even upload, video is out of the question.  

So here's the gist of it; we cycled up Going-To-The-Sun Road this morning, and the scenery was spectacular as you know or might imagine.  The glacially carved terrain offers magnificent views everywhere you look.  Most all of the Phat Pholks trapped in steel cages were jealous of our freedom and physical prowess, of course, and told us so at every scenic viewpoint we stopped.

We Saw Numerous Elk In The Early Morning In Glacier Park
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The Scenery Around Saint Mary Lake and Going-to-the-Sun Road is Spectacular
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A Fire In 2015 Burned Some of the Park
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Steve HenryBud you did it…..so wonderful. Don’t take any yummy snacks into your tent as that attracts bears. Carrot and celery sticks would be ok…..oh well…..add some chocolate milk…..you deserve it!!!
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2 years ago
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At the summit we met a dozen or more cyclists who had ridden up the west side and were preparing for the return.  We enjoyed the nice long downhill run, even though cars were in my way cause they couldn't corner as fast as me.  Reaching the Lake McDonald Lodge was a bit of a disappointment; I had hoped for a sit-down meal before moving on to our campground at Sprague Creek, but the lodge restaurant only offered take-out.  That would have been fine, except that there were more than 30 folks in the line ahead of me!  So I went down to the camp store to buy food for the night and morning, and it was very poorly stocked to say the least.  Unless you bought a wrapped sandwich there just wasn't much.  So I got a sandwich for lunch, then sat in the lodge to try and post something for tonight's journal.  The line has diminished somewhat for the take-out, so maybe I will buy something to take with me to our campground for the night.  Doc has cycled on to the campground already - they have a no-turn-away policy for cyclists, so I know I will get a spot but what/where it is may not be the greatest if I get there very late this afternoon.

OK, I'm going to post this even though the pics aren't yet fully visible - not sure if that will work but I need to move on.  We are camping again tomorrow night as well, so it may be a while before I can make a proper journal update. 

Good night all - my toothache has diminished enough such that I'm not as irritable as I was, therefore I promise to not hurt any bears tonight unless I have to.   I hope the rest of you are nice to the lions and tigers and bears and such as well - it's not their fault that we Sapiens have intruded into their territory and are crowding them out.  Later folks...

NOTE; my apologies, but this is 1 of 2 videos (and 1 partial video) where the image stabilization on the GoPro wasn't working, so it will seem a bit "shaky" compared to the others)

NOTE;  In the following video, the image stabilization of the GoPro wasn't working until about 4:26 into the video; at that point the GoPro battery died and I hooked up an auxiliary charging battery to it, and that seems to have reset things and the image stabilization started working again - now you know.

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 3,471 miles (5,586 km)

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Scott AndersonWell, congratulations. I’m relieved the antibiotics are helping, and happy for you that you’re able to continue. You deserved a much better meal, obviously.
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2 years ago
Gregory GarceauI don't mean to rub it in, but the sit down meal at Lake McDonald Lodge was a big highlight for me on the Going to the Sun Road. It was my first shrimp scampi as I recall and it was delicious. On the other hand, the next day it rained all day as I pedaled eastward up to Logan Pass and down the other side and it rained all night as I camped near St. Mary's Lake. As a result, I didn't take a single photograph, much less such beautiful pictures as the ones you took.
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2 years ago
George HallTo Scott AndersonThanks Scott - I’m good for the moment with a combination of antibiotics and pain killers. It remains an open question as to whether I can keep things at bay for another 16 days and finish this tour - guess we’ll find out..,
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2 years ago