RideAbout65.4 – Day 13 – Great Falls, Montana to Kalispell, Montana via Going-to-the-Sun Road

RideAbout65.4

Total distance: 327.98 mi
Download file: Day-13a.gpx

 

Today’s Mileage: 328 miles

Total Trip Mileage so far: 2966 miles

 

We set out early from Great Falls to make our way to Glacier National Park and ride the famous Going-to-the-Sun road.  The ride up to Glacier was scenic enough on good roads with a little of the usual construction delays.  We made a wrong turn south of where we should have (how can you do that with a GPS anyway?) and ended up almost to Kalispell without going via Going-to-the-Sun.  We ended up entering the road from the west instead of from the east as we planned.  No problem, it just meant that we would have to ride it twice since we intended to end up in Kalispell – oh what a burden, ride the Going-to-the-Sun road twice, once in each direction.  There were tons of motorcyclists to talk with at every stop.  I brought my Senior Pass purchased on RideAbout65.2 and found that it worked just fine to get me into Glacier.

Going-to-the-Sun road was all it was billed to be but the photos just do not do it justice – it really has to be experienced – while it was crowded the traffic was not bad at all and it is really a road you want to relish for the scenery, not for the pavement, besides there was precious little margin of error on the roads and hundreds of feet to drop if you made an blunder.

After riding the road twice and talking ourselves hoarse at all the stops we were glad to see Kalispell, a hotel, and a good meal.

Tomorrow Pat and I would split up, he going his way and I going mine, which happened to be west toward Seattle.

 

 

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Tom Carter
Franklin, Tennessee

Mechanical Engineering Consultant

Motorcycle Rider/ Racer/ Tester

Husband/ Dad/ Grandfather/ Great-Grandfather

Planet Earth Arrival 1947

First rode a motorcycle around 1958

Still riding today…