This is a special time of year in Glacier National Park, when the landscape is green with snow-covered peaks and before the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road is fully open and the millions of visitors converge to take in its spectacular alpine scenery.

In May and June, while they are plowing snow on the upper section at the continental divide, you can ride your bike past the closed gate ("bikers and hiker only beyond this point") and feel like you have the whole park to yourself. I had the treat of sharing this experience with my friends from the Montana Office of Tourism the other day.

It was stunning as we started on the flats of the paved road riding next to the striking blue-green glacial colors of McDonald Creek with glimpses of the knife edge Garden Wall precipous and then starting a gradual climb revealing the Livingston range and the ice cream cone-looking Heaven's Peak.

We had to pinch ourselves around every bend as our senses were awakened by the sounds of...[more]