Going to the Rain Road

7/20 - St Mary, MT to Agpar, MT - 50 miles

Most of us went to breakfast at St Mary's Lodge that day.  After we finished, I procrastinated by going window shopping at a few gift shops.
In reality, I wanted to climb by myself.  I just wanted to be able to compare my experience to my last sustained climbing experience in the Applachians and Adirondacks.... without measuring myself against anyone else.  I was also reminded of the book 'Wild' that I had just read - I completely understood why the heroine wanted to hike certain sections of the PCT alone - to prove something to herself. Note: I highly recommend that book!

Anyway, I picked up a new wind breaker while I looked around in town and it was a good thing because I would definitely need it later that day.
The day's mileage would be 50 miles...which included 19 miles from camp to the top of Logan Pass.  As I started the Going to the Sun Road, it was 12 miles to the top.  I saw a sign - 'Rough road next 9 miles',   I chuckled to myself...would it be a rough road?  What about the last three miles?

I soon found that construction season was in full effect.  The next 9 miles would be a mix of dirt and gravel for the ascent.  Thankfully, the descent on the other side would be fully paved.

I got a flat tire and broke a spoke just as I reached the end of St Mary's Lake.  Breaking a spoke is bad because it typically causes a wheel to go out of alignment - so when it spins, it could drag on the brakes pads and be unstable...possibly dangerous to ride.

I had no cell service at this point.

A couple pulled up to take pictures and I asked if they had any tape...which they did..,so I taped the broken spoke to another spoke and then started to work on the flat tire.  Initially I patched the tube, but when I went to inflate, it was no good, so I replaced the bad tube with a new tube from my bag.

While I was fixing my flat, a self contained biker named Roberta stopped to chat and give me a hand. She was from Hawaii and was currently completing her second crossing of the Continental Divide trail.

After we fixed the flat, we mounted the wheel and spun it to see if it was true..it was!
So I wished Roberta well and was on my way.

Two minutes later it started to rain.

This rain would stay with me to the top of Logan Pass.....bbrrrrrr....glad I brought that wind breaker!

The climb itself was not bad at all.  It was different that our climbs out east because the grade was less harsh : 3-8% vs the 5-16% from our first weeks.  I felt strong and enjoyed the climb - even despite the rain and my mechanical troubles.

When I finally got to the top of Logan Pass, I bumped into Justin and Andy.  They told me the van had already left, so I told them that I wasn't comfortable descending with my spoke issue and that I would take a shuttle down to camp (did I mention that I had no cell service that day and had no way to call our van even if I wanted to???)

Given that the next day was only 30 miles, I would see if I could get a ride to the Logan Pass parking lot so I could pick up where I left off...and make it a 60 mile day.

I shuttled down with my bike in the rack on the front on the Glacier Park van...and managed to get some good picks...a preview for my future descent.