Itinerary: Stage 1: SF Bay Area to Glacier National Park, Montana
As promised, here is the map of the proposed first leg. We leave the Fairfield, CA area and drive through the farmland of the Central Valley, then through the Gold Country, and up over two 8000 foot passes and then drop down to the south end of Lake Tahoe.
From here we travel up the west side of the lake, then past Squaw Valley, home of the VIII Winter Olympiad. This is where USA vs Russia Hockey upset #1...the original miracle occurred. (The Lake Placid Miracle on Ice of 1980 was actually 'v.2'.) We then through through forests and meadows and high mountain grazing land and over the lowest pass in the Sierras. From here, up US 395 along the western edge of the Great Basin, a land that stretches from the Sonoran Desert of northern Mexico up into southern Canada.
Then we dip down into Hell's Canyon http://www.fs.fed.us/hellscanyon/overview/index.shtml, then up to beautiful Enterprise and Joseph, and on to Lewiston. This is part of the Lewis and Clark trail. http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com . Then we travel their path up US 12 and over the Bitterroots into Montana. Through the college town of Missoula and then up along Flathead Lake and into Glacier. Whether we get to ride over the Going to the Sun Highway (http://www.nps.gov/archive/glac/montana.htm) or must go around the park through East Glacier depends on the snowfall. Last year the Highway did not open until the 4th of July!
We plan to stay at the classic old national park lodgings at Lake McDonald and Many Glacier. Check it out at http://www.glacierparkinc.com/Lodging/PropertyDetails.asp?id=3&prop=M
As we travel we are always on the lookout for fun and funky places to eat, great roadside hotels, and hot springs.. so speak up and help us!
