Bike Ride to The Loop

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shadowdan
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Bike Ride to The Loop

Post by shadowdan »

I was really glad that the road was reopened a couple of weeks ago so I took the opportunity to take a bike ride up the road from Avalanche on this nice Friday afternoon. There were a few areas of smoke near Avalanche and Lake McDonald Lodge, but otherwise, no evidence of the fire. I got started around 2pm and the weather was cool and crisp - especially on the way back down from the Loop. But it was a beautiful, quiet ride. While at the Loop, saw a few goats way up on a mountain side and took a few pics toward the pass. Also took a pics of the Heaven's Peak Lookout and Mt. Brown Lookout. To the right of Mt. Brown you can see the burned area, but the Lookout survived.

From the Loop, looking toward the Garden Wall
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Heaven's Peak Lookout from the Loop
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Looking toward Logan Pass
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Mt. Brown Lookout in the upper left corner and the burned area to the right
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By the way, I was really surprised at how the area around Mt. Brown didn't look completely burned. There were just random spots where areas had burned. There's still lots of green trees and bright yellow Larch trees. I'm sure the other side of the mountain is where it's burned out. And also there were lots of downed trees in the Apgar area and all along the road from the recent windstorm. (Not including the one in my backyard that smashed my fence). :shock:
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Re: Bike Ride to The Loop

Post by teapot57 »

What a great way to spend a beautiful fall day. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Bike Ride to The Loop

Post by Jay w »

I bet it was a cool ride down the mountain. Last night I was wondering e.g. if you hiked up to Granite Park, would you have the whole place to yourself. I assume so, and I guess I assume they you probably didn't see more than one (or two) other groups on your way to and from the Loop.

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Re: Bike Ride to The Loop

Post by paul »

I love the photos of the snow covered mountains. I'm glad the long fire season has come to end. Thanks for posting!
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Re: Bike Ride to The Loop

Post by shadowdan »

Jay w wrote:I bet it was a cool ride down the mountain. Last night I was wondering e.g. if you hiked up to Granite Park, would you have the whole place to yourself. I assume so, and I guess I assume they you probably didn't see more than one (or two) other groups on your way to and from the Loop.

Jay
I saw one bike parked at the Loop trailhead, so someone must have taken a hike up that way. But you're right, I didn't see many people. There were 2 others at the Loop when I got there and I had only passed a few others as they were coming down. One was a couple on a tandem bike coming fast down the hill as I was going up. When they passed me, the lady on the back raised up waving her arms and let out a big "woohoo!" like she was on a roller coaster. Pretty funny.
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Re: Bike Ride to The Loop

Post by Crooked Wood »

We rode to Haystack Creek on Saturday. The gate was not closed and no signs. The road was clear and dry, but another cyclist said is was icy further up. We chatted with ranger Rebecca back at Avalanche. She wasn't aware the gate was open, so it was probably closed after our chat with her. Sorry, we probably ruined it for others.
Haystack Creek:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba1TN1dBF-U ... hotography
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Re: Bike Ride to The Loop

Post by joybird »

Thanks so much for posting those pictures! Nice to get a fresh view of the park from this time of year...and especially to see the Mt. Brown Lookout still standing proud. I'm so glad to hear that at least some of the trees survived the conflagration.
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