I exited the park on the east side, into the town of St. Mary. As I mentioned earlier, I found a room at the Mountain Pine Inn in East Glacier, which is a short ride south on MT-89. The ride south on MT-89 was an eye-opener but in a very different way than the sights in the park. You could see where the wildfires had burned and were still smouldering, you could see where the fire had flashed over the roadway and the guardrails were floating in midair, the wooden posts that had held it in place having completely burned away in many places. You could smell and taste the smoke. There were camps along the roadway, maybe command posts, maybe places for firefighters to get some food and a brief rest. It’s difficult to imagine the work that lay ahead for them, and also to imagine the work they’ve already done for the people of the surrounding communities.
A bit further south on MT-89, I saw a turnoff for MT-49 that was signed to East Glacier, so I took it. Signs indicated that this road is closed in winter, but it was a great ride along the Two Medicine River down to town, gasoline for the bike, a bite of dinner, and a clean room for the night. Mountain Pine Inn is a nice, clean, quiet place to rest and I’m glad I stayed there instead of a nondescript room in a chain hotel.
I had ridden over 400 miles today, not a really long distance but some folk’s standards, but when you’re stopping every 500 feet to take another picture it makes for a long day. Tomorrow I will ride through the park east to west. Different perspectives, different sunlight, and another difference I didn’t even know about.
