Both a disappointing day and a fabulous day. As many of you know, the way to see Glacier is to drive the “Going to the Sun Road”, a 50 mile trip from West Glacier to St. Mary at the Eastern end of the Park. Knowing in advance that the road is impassable in spots to RV’s our size, I rented a Hertz SUV from Kalispell airport, where I had retrieved my son the day prior. We got there at 8AM on the spot, transferred cameras, etc. and of course dog, and headed back to West Glacier to the western entrance.
When we arrived we were confronted with a sign that said, “Going to the Sun Road closed between Avalanche and Rising Sun.” Of course, we had no idea where these were along the road so we had to stop and consult a map. To our dismay, Avalanche was a spot 15 miles in from the West Entrance, and Rising Sun was a spot 5 miles in from the East Entrance at St. Mary. GROAN! The whole middle of the trip was closed to us, and given the snow I experienced driving over the Continental Divide the day before, I understood why.
Undaunted, we drove the 15 miles to Avalanche. We were not disappointed. The weather cooperated and it was a magical drive. We practically had the whole road to ourselves and were able to turn out frequently and take some fabulous pictures (too many to choose from here).
It didn’t take long. We had the whole rest of the day so we queried a Park Ranger who was working along the road and asked if it was worth it to drive around the south end of the Park and up the East side to St. Mary (a trip that was 100+ miles each way!) and enter the Park for the 5 miles or so it was open from the East side.
We decided we had to do it.
Here are just 2 photos of the dozens we took. The first of the drive in from the West side. The second (to prove the 200 mile out of the way trek was worth it) on the 5 mile journey from the Eastern entrance.
Needless to say, we lucked out with the weather, and these shots were taken with an iPhone! There’s no doubt I’ll have to come back again and do that whole road! The pictures, of course, don’t do justice to the magnificence…sigh….
