August 5, 2017
Rising Sun campground to Many Glacier campground
Bear spray: the musical
Today started out a bit damp and cool, but we're pretty used to such conditions. The ride out to the town of St. Mary, our restocking destination, seemed longer than expected. We also seemed not to have all our wits about us. First, we mistook the gas station/convenience store for the town grocery, and were of course very disappointed. Second, I thought I had lost my sunglasses, only to find after a long search that they were lying on my trunk bag.
We did find the grocery store, but we were unimpressed with both the quality and cost of the merchandise. We decided to try our luck with the only other establishment on our route, Thronson's General Store in Babb. The gamble paid off. They had fine produce, and a good selection of dry goods, all reasonably priced. We bought so much stuff that we had to rearrange my panniers' contents to fit it all. It seemed like too much, but it allowed us to eat like royalty for the next few days.
Our campground hosts at Rising Sun warned us that the road to Many Glacier was in pretty bad shape. Traffic was light, so we were able to dodge the many potholes with ease. We reached the re-entry point to the park, where I expected to just show my receipt and get waved on. Instead, we got a mini-lecture about the importance of carrying bear spray in these parts. I couldn't bring myself to spend $60 on something that we were only going to use for one day of hiking (and probably get confiscated at the Canadian border anyway), although I get it that it's for the bears' safety, not just ours. The talk did steer us towards a more popular hike in order to reduce the likelihood of an encounter.
We enjoyed a late lunch, landed a great little corner of the shared camp site, and walked around to get the lay of the land. In the evening, I attended the ranger program, led by a man who has spent many summers researching ptarmigan populations and movement in Glacier.
Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 108 miles (174 km)
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