Bike and raft event supports bike trail
<p>Glacier Raft Company will float participants from the Blankenship Bridge to the Teakettle Fishing Access Site in Columbia Falls.</p>
The Gateway to Glacier Trail nonprofit group will host a bike ride and summer solstice raft float as a fundraising effort for a bike path from Columbia Falls to West Glacier.
The trail group has already successfully secured more than $1 million to build a seven-mile stretch of paved bike path along U.S. 2 from Coram to West Glacier. That section will connect with the existing 3.5 miles of bike path that runs along U.S. 2 from Hungry Horse to Coram.
The Montana Department of Transportation will include a bike path along U.S. 2 from the House of Mystery through Bad Rock Canyon and across the South Fork of the Flathead River to Hungry Horse when that section of highway is rebuilt. Construction could start as early as 2015.
Remaining to be completed is the three to four miles from Columbia Falls to the House of Mystery. When finished, the bike trail will provide about 20 miles of continuous, separated bike path from Columbia Falls to the entrance of Glacier National Park.
Registration for the Pedal and Paddle for Paths event will take place at Meadow Lake Resort on Saturday, June 21, starting at 1:30 p.m. Bike riders will depart at 3 p.m. They’ll ride up the North Fork Road to Blankenship Bridge, where they will enjoy an “ice cream social” for an hour or two. Bikes will be shuttled back to the resort.
Starting around 5 p.m., the Glacier Raft Company will float participants down the Flathead River to the Teakettle Fishing Access Site in Columbia Falls, arriving around 8 p.m. Participants will be transported to Meadow Lake Resort for a party at the Truby’s restaurant from 8 to 10 p.m., with a no-host bar and appetizers.
Advance ticket are $25 adults, $15 for ages 8-17 and free for children 7 and under (call regarding restrictions for floaters under 7). Tickets the day of event are $30 adults and $20 for ages 8-17.
Tickets are available online at http://tinyurl.com/PedalPaddleTickets or at Freedom Bank in Columbia Falls and the Hungry Horse Liquor Store in Hungry Horse. For more information, call 406-892-5512 or 406-250-6100 or visit online at www.gatewaytoglaciertrail.com or www.facebook.com/GatewayToGlacierTrail.