There was only one activity on today's agenda, Going-to-the-Sun Road. This is a scenic roadway completed in 1932 spanning the width of Glacier National Park from Apgar visitor center on the west to St. Mary visitor center on the east. It crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass where it peaks at an altitude of 6,646 ft.
The road is 100 miles round trip with many viewpoints and pullouts. The park map shows 29 points of interest. We know this will take us many hours as we like to stop often to soak in everything while giving the kids time to play and explore. So, once again we were up at the crack of dawn to get ready. This was made easier by our huckleberry coffee we purchased the other day. Last night Adam set the coffee maker on a timer so it started to brew while we were getting dressed.
After last night’s dinner at the campgrounds Lazy Bear Café we noticed a few huckleberry treats in their bakery case. We bought a huckleberry scone and a huckleberry bearclaw and shared these along with our breakfast. We may go through huckleberry withdraw once we leave Montana.
We left the campground at about 8am and decided to drive the road out past Avalanche Creek (yesterday’s activity) before making any stops.
Based on what we had read and heard about this drive we had high expectations. They were definitely met and then some. We spent the morning slowly driving along and pulling off when we could. Every time we stopped we made sure to look at our surroundings from every direction. We brought along our binoculars and were enjoying using them often. The girls were determined to spot wildlife they hadn't seen on our trip yet. This park has a reputation for mountain goats, big horn sheep and grizzly bears. Here are some highlights with short descriptions:
Avalanche Chutes - an area where avalanches occur every year destroying the plant life which then regrows in a constant cycle of destruction and renewal.
Heavens Peak (covered by clouds) and aftermath of the 2003 Trapper Fire
Bird Woman Falls cascading 560 feet from a snow field (no longer a glacier) on the north face of Clements Mountain
Bridge travels over Haystack falls cascading into McDonald Creek thousands of feet below
Weeping Wall - Water seeps out from the rock wall along the road
Just before lunchtime we came upon "Big Bend" which is a large turnout and spectacular vista. From here you can see multiple mountains and the deep valley below. The hillside on both sides of the road was covered in fireweed, a tall purple wildflower. We absolutely had to pull over here. First we hiked up the hillside into the incredible field of flowers.
When we came back down we noticed there were some large boulders on the side of the road. This would be the perfect spot to enjoy our picnic lunch.
After lunch we walked about a block down the road to see some compacted snowy mounds up close.
The next major point of interest was crossing the summit at Logan Pass where there is a visitor center. Unfortunately this lot was very full and after looping multiple times we decided to give up and try again later in the day when we make the return trip.
We left the parking lot and started the descent on the eastern side of the park. This took us through the east tunnel and opened up into another spectacular view. In the valley below we could see Lunch Creek with Pollock Mountain in the background. The rock wall along the road had some more interesting waterfalls. We were lucky to find a spot at the first pullout.
As we moved on we came upon the pull off for Jackson Glacier Overlook. This is one of the last remaining glaciers in the Park. It was very sad to learn in about a decade’s time all glaciers will be completely gone. It was even sadder to understand how devastating this will be to the current environment and how much it will change the ecosystem.
We continued driving east to the Sunrift Gorge viewpoint. The gorge was a short 75-foot walk down some stairs from the turnout.
At the same location we noticed a trailhead sign for Baring Falls. It was only .8 miles round-trip so we all agreed to do it. Within the first few minutes of our hike we heard a rustling and spotted what we are guessing was a yellow bellied marmot (we showed the picture to a ranger who helped us to make that guess).
As we continued we started to hear a rapid, continuous pecking noise. We stopped in our tracks and realized there was a woodpecker going at the tree. As we watched her peck she would throw down pieces of bark.
The trail was near St Mary Lake and contained many dead trees from previous fires. Because these trees lacked foliage we had a nice view of the lake in the distance.
At another point the pathway curved around a bend and there stood a very cool bridge made out of logs. Across the bridge was Baring Falls.
There was a downed log in the area we were admiring the waterfall and the girls started climbing across it. As they went Ella found what looked like a piece of bone. We took a few pictures of it and left it there since a Jr. Ranger knows to never take anything with you. Later we showed it to a Park Ranger who guessed it was a moose vertebrae and he commended Ella for leaving it.
We hiked back to the truck and continued on the drive to Wild Goose Island. This is a very small piece of land that sits inside of St Mary Lake. The girls chose to stay in the truck but Adam and I got out to see the views better. It was quite beautiful to see the mountains and water all around this little island.
Just another short drive and we arrived at St. Mary’s Visitor Center marking the end of the 50 mile drive from the west to the east. The girls had a great time exploring the exhibits and tipi’s here.
It was time to make the 50 mile drive back to the west. When we got to Logan Pass we tried again to find a parking spot and this time were successful. Walking up to the Visitor Center we started hearing a loud, repetitive squeaking noise. We realized the source of this noise was a columbian ground squirrel perched atop a rock in the garden.
After watching him for a bit we went into the Visitor Center. We all signed a pledge not to disturb or feed the wildlife.
There was a hike here too but we didn’t think we should do it now. It was already late in the day and we heard people talking about how the trail is 2000 stair steps up. Instead we walked around the beautiful grounds outside. While we did the squirrels kept catching our attention.
Sadly, another visitor must have spilled their m&ms and did not clean them up. We watched as a squirrel stuffed these colorful candies into his cheeks. There were other squirrels that were eating the flowers and the foliage. We witnessed first hand the detrimental result of people feeding these squirrels. There was a little girl (she seemed to be around two years old) who was eating a sandwich. She was walking the path with her parents. All of a sudden she started to cry. A squirrel had jumped up to her arm and took the food right out of her hand. At the same time a ranger was walking by and he started talking about how these squirrels carry lots of diseases and people getting bit by them is a very common injury in the Park. On that note we decided to head back to the truck.
Right beyond Logan Pass was Oberlin Bend. This was another stop that Adam and the girls wanted to explore that we missed while heading east. I was starting to get tired but agreed to stop. It was such a good thing we did. As we walked down the man made boardwalk path we came to a section where two women were standing. The one turned to us, held her finger to her lips to signal we should be quiet and mouthed mountain goat and pointed just off the path. We turned our heads and there it was! It was pretty small and the girls were excited it was a baby. As it navigated the woods just off the path we quietly watched.
All of a sudden it crouched down and started to pee, which the girls thought was hysterical.
It was awesome to watch the mountain goat walk about and eat the leaves. In addition Oberlin Bend had more waterfalls along the road and breathtaking views. That was an incredible way to end our Going-to-the-Sun-Road experience.
Our plan was to have dinner at the Lake McDonald Lodge which was another 21 miles along Going-to-the-Sun Road. This drive was taking much longer than it needed. For some reason a few men in a pick up truck were driving exceptionally slow, seemingly on purpose. It was a one lane road so there was nothing we could do. They kept looking back to see how long the line of traffic was becoming.
When we finally got there it was already 8pm. We were starving and wanted something fast so we ate at Jammer Joe's Grill & Pizzeria just down the road from the Lodge.
After dinner we walked down to the Lodge. From our first step inside we instantly fell in love. Lake McDonald was outside and they had several chairs set up for guests to enjoy the view. We stayed here much longer than we had intended. When we came inside another guest was playing the piano in the lobby and it was so relaxing to sit in this setting and listen.
It was already 9:40 and we still had another 20 minute ride to exit the park. Our campground was just a few miles beyond that. This took the record for the longest day we have spent in any national park. Having left at 8am we clocked in at 14 hours. Lily did make it a very fun ride back. She wanted to sing Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. We put that on and she made us turn the volume up, roll the windows down and sing it over and over for 25 minutes.
The only disappointment for the day was that we never saw bighorn sheep. The closest we got was a pose with a cutout.
With the girls in bed Adam and I capped off the day with a glass of our huckleberry wine.
