The Selkirk Loop Final Stats

Glacier National Park or bust…

We stopped in Whitefish for a delicious cappuccino and some breakfast. It was a hopping place this morning… most likely every morning. It’s a really cute vibrant community. Often it’s voted the cutest town in Montana. Hard to argue with that. I could spend more time and a lot more money here. It is also one of the most expensive places to live in Montana. Real estate prices and rentals are very expensive. They have been expensive here for years… not just post Covid.

Glacier National Park

We were not able to get a car reservation online… and the Going to the Sun Highway was closed all morning due to snow yesterday at the top. We took a chance at 1pm and drove to the gate. The road was open but without a reservation we had to wait until 3pm.

We parked at Apgar Village at the entrance on beautiful Lake McDonald and killed the two hours so we could drive over the pass at 3pm.

Going to the Sun road is a marvelous piece of engineering up Logan Pass. It is very narrow and climbs up a very steep side of the mountain for 19 miles to the top. You either have a wall on one side or a steep drop off on the other. It is solid trafffic going up at 3 pm and pretty busy for those coming down. There are tons of pullouts with absolutely stunning views of the majestic Rocky Mountains. It turned into a warm comfortable afternoon…even at the top of the pass.

The marvel of this highway and the stone built guard rails all the way to the top. It takes 2 months to plow the highway every summer. This would be a scary job.

This side trip was worth it!

THE FINAL STATS…..

Aug. 19-28, 2024

403 miles total

9 days riding total

1 layover day in Nelson BC on Day 7

Avg. miles/day= 45

Overall AIS (ass in saddle) = 42:05 hrs

Avg speed overall = 9.6 mph

Lowest speed = 8.6 (2x). Day 4 and Day 6

Fastest speed = 10.6. Day 1 and Day 3

Total elevation gain = 17,461 ft.

Anecdotal Stats:

Camping in tent = 7 nights

Motel = 3 nights

Rainy days = 2 (never all day)

Flat tires = 0

Mechanical issues = 0

Critter/Bear issues = 0. (No skunks or raccoons)

I hope you enjoyed reading along on our ride for the past 10 days as much as we enjoyed experiencing such beautiful country at 10mph! We’ve told each other we should do these trips while we still can!

The Katy Trail

We have another small 10 day ride coming up in October. This one is a family affair with 3 of my older sisters and 1 older brother… and Jim. It will not be self-supported but van supported and we will have beds every night. Much more sane for all of us. We will be riding from Kansas City MO to St Louis MO on a well known railroad bed called The Katy Trail.