2ridetheworld.com : diary

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08-08-2007
Yes it’s an overused descriptive but our ride through the park was ‘breathtaking’. If you have the chance to ride ‘The-road-into-the-Sun’ route up and over ‘Logan Pass’ I guarantee you you won’t be disappointed. Simply incredible. Granite mountains, lush valleys and smooth asphalt that wips you along the rutted gorge of ancient gullies carved out over the millennia by once fast flowing water or creeping glaciers. We’d managed to get to the ‘Many Glaciar Campsite’ by 12:00 noon only to be told the site was full. With 109 spaces we hadn’t expected that. That had knocked the wind out of our sails, we’d thought momentarily about just crossing the border and make a late break for Canada. The young ranger could see our predicament and so following her kind advice we rode on down into the parkwith the hope of finding vacated site or finding someone who’d share theirs. After 3 times around it looked hopeless. Scooting across the border was beginning to seem more likely. Lisa’s excited voice crackled over the intercom. A couple overhearing our plight earlier had literally jumped into her path as we broswed one last time and offered their site for the sharing, they were due to leave early the next morning. As if on que even the Sun broke through illuminating the valley and surrounding mountains in an orange glow. The tent went up ‘double-quick’. Dinner was courtesy of the small café opposite. Pasta and beer for $9 was just too good to refuse. My eyes closed as Lisa sat up in the tent, cuddled up in her sleeping bag as she scowered her new maps by torchlight, planning tomorrows hike.
09-08-2007
I’d set the alarm for 6:00 am and had grabbed the camera bag as I scrabbled out the tent. The clouds from yesterday had gone, the sky was clear and the slowly rising Sun was casting a dramtic warm orange light over the mountain sides as it broke through the v-shaped gullies surrounding the campsite. I clicked away trying to capture just one image that would do this light spectacle justice. Every second the changing light would alter the appearance of the vast canvas. Three or four others had grabbed cameras and were doing alike, each of trying for that perfect angle or view. It was…’majestic’! Our hike up the Iceberg Lake would take us through 5-miles of bear infested woods. Grizzly’s up on the slopes to our left and a large black bear suprising us on the track as it poked it’s head out only 20-yards up. We’d met up with another couple as we began our walk and between the 4 of us we made a lot of noise (as advised) whilst trekking….this didn’t seem to upset this bear at all…ir really didn’t want to move on. After about 5 mins it decided we were just not going to move and stop annoying him with our shouts of ‘HEY BEAR!’ …so he did..phew! The hike up was astounding – just like we’d hoped and like all the pictures you see in the magazines. However, after too many months (shall we say years?) of direct exercise we think we will feel this 10 mile walk tomorrow! The emerald green of the glaciar-fed lake was the jewel in the crown of this glorious walk. Just check out the pictures, they’ll do this place more justice than the descriptives I can supply. We watched a long-horned sheep edge it’s way along the top of the glacier (wondering how the hell he got there and if he was going to fall off) as we ate our sandwiches and protected our rucksack from the marmotts and squirrels who could smell the food. We made our way down at a reasonable pace – Lisa knew that her knees were going to pay for it later…ahh, poor old lady! Stopping at Ptarmigan Falls on the way for a freezing foot dip! We reached the bottom of the trail around 2:30 pm and after a nice cold gateraid and short rest started to plough our way through the many photos we’d taken. Lisa was not in the mood to cook and so our evening meal conisisted of instant noodles made in the microwave of the camping areas village store at a cost of $1.75 each!
10-08-2007
My legs hurt! There’s not much write but plenty to see. Just check out the photos. What started out to be a quick 15 walk down to the lake closest to the campsite (Fish lake), ended up being a 3-hour photo frenzy as we stumbled across a huge male moose grazing on the algy and water grass. I’ve spent the rest of the day with diary and just sorting and deleting the raw photo files. We’re still buzzing from the experience. We’ll cross the border tomorrow into Canada, country number 58.




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