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Montana: Driving the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park

July 14, 2007.

We are staying North American RV-Park in Coram, MT a few miles west of the west gate to Glacier National Park: $37 FHU with wifi and UNLEVEL sites. It is one of the best RV-Parks in the area but a cheaper one ($25) is located one block west of the light in Hungry Horse. Hungry Horse is only a few miles west of Coram and the North American RV-Park. Next time we will stay there where there is SHADE and free wifi.

We are going to explore several different areas today. The first thing we have on our schedule is to drive west on US-2 to Kalispell.

Just west of Hungry Horse we pass through a narrowing of the canyon where the river, highway, and RR all crowd through an area know as "Bad Rock". Someone has plugged a natural spring so that it flows out of a PVC pipe. We have seen this before only here there is a sign saying that the water has not been tested or something to that effect. It still looks like locals stop by to get fresh spring water.

While at the spring we took this picture of a train making its way through this gap in the rocks known as "Bad Rock". The Flathead River and US-2 both occupy the space between where we are and the rail road.

From Kalispell we made our way to the southeast through Creston and Swan Lake. The entire valley is intensely farmed with grain.

Around Creston the area is a virtual bread basket.

Then we returned to the motorhome before heading to Glacier National Park where we are going to drive the Going to the Sun Highway.

From North American RV-Park in Coram it is a 7-mile drive to the entrance gate at the West Gate of Glacier National Park. Not long after entering Glacier National Park we are heading east on the Going to the Sun Highway --- heading for Logan Pass and one of the most scenic drives on the North American Continent.

As we began our 33-mile drive to the summit (at Logan Pass) Joyce has our camera ready to capture the scenery. Joyce has a good eye for setting up good pictures. This picture was taken early on in our journey to the summit. A rock chute is visible from the top to almost the bottom.

One of the more exciting aspects of this drive is the dramatic road cuts that were required to cut a path over Logan Pass. Large vehicles are not allowed on this road for good reason. As you can see there is NO room to spare on this side and on the downhill side of the road --- well it drops off into oblivion.

Road cuts like this accompany about 10-miles of this awesome drive.

Across the valley glacier carved mountains stretch for the sky.

Forest fires in the area make everything hazy.

Going to the Sun Highway is following the left side of this valley. If you look closely you can see the road cut climbing the mountain on the left in the far distance. If you still don't see the road cut locate the V in the mountains then follow the roadcut from the bottom of that V.

You might be better able to see that road cut in this picture.

What an awesome sight. The Going to the Sun Highway follows this valley through that dip you see in the mountains to the left of center. I think that dip is Logan Pass.

A glacial cirque scooped out that piece of mountain. It looks as if a giant ice cream scoop just removed a scoop.

This is another look at that cirque.

This waterfall flows under the highway.

Any number of waterfalls cascade down the mountains all along this route.

This is another look at that glacial cirque.

At least two avalanche chutes are evident from this view.

Another waterfall flowing under the Going to the Sun Highway. The water in these falls is coming from glacial melt.

You can see the roadcut climbing the side of this mountain.

Now is is probably time to discuss the geology we are seeing. First all the rock I have seen so far is sedimentary rock that appears to be limestone and shales much like what we saw in Banff National park up in Canada. Also like the main mountains in Canada these sedimentary rock layers are laying flat. Even from here you can see layers of sedimentary rock.

From this vantage point you can also see the road cut as the Going to the Sun Highway makes its way to Logan Pass.

We are getting ever closer to Logan Pass. It is much easier to see the roadcut maintaining a 6% grade as it heads for the Logan Pass.

Again I remind you that these peaks were once the sea bed of a shallow sea and that a collision of the earths plates has caused this plate to ride up over the plate to the east.

The steep sides of these mountains were carved by glaciers.

That vertical scar visible through the trees on that slope is a combination avalanche chute/rock slide area.

We are looking at an avalanche chute in the green area of this picture and a sharp road cut on the inside of the highway in this area.

One can't help but be impressed with sights like this. Of course one has to wonder at the size of the glacier that carved this scenery.

We have been climbing a 6% grade for more than 10-miles and we probably have that many more to go.

Note that snow is still clinging to the side of the mountain at this altitude and we are in mid-July.

The horizontal cut across this picture is the going to the sun highway road cut while the cut above it, that climbs to the tree line, is one of the parks hiking trails.

This is glacial melt that will flow to the Flat Head River, then Columbia River before eventually making it back to the Pacific Ocean.

At this altitude snow along the highway is common.

I don't think this snow along the highway will last more than a few more weeks.

As we pulled into the parking lot at Logan Pass we were greeted by this big horn sheep. He was looking for salt in the parking lot.

This ram seems to be saying "I am just looking for some salt, now if you will excuse me".

Relentless glaciers sculpted Mt. Reynold's jagged summit. When several glaciers erode a mountaintop from different sides, a steep mountain peak or horn develops. The result is a glacial horn like the Swiss Matterhorn.

There are glacial horns in many locations throughout Glacier Park. But the only sure way to identify a horn is to hike around it or view it from other perspectives.

Carved by glaciers, but is it a horn? Good question, I don't know.

Multiple glaciers were responsible for carving these mountains. We are standing on Logan Pass, on the Continental Divide.

There are a number of big horn sheep and mountain goats milling around Logan Pass today.

Adventuresome people were hiking up to that large body of snow from here at the Logan Pass Visitor Center.

As we were leaving the parking lot at Logan Pass several mountain goats were also making their way across the tarmac.

This one stopped to get a lick of salt, then continued on his way.

When you leave the parking lot at the Visitor Center on Logan Pass you have to decide if you are going east to St. Mary or West to West Glacier. We are going back to the west.

This sign is a good summary of what lies ahead.

The cut you see across this mountain is a hiking trail. Every day, during the summer, adventuresome people hike along this trail. The Going to the Sun Highway is more or less parallel to that hiking trail but is just out of sight at the bottom of the picture.

This is comforting to know. I guess it is just to let you know you are very close to those vertical road cuts.

This lone mountain goat was about a mile down from the summit and looking for left over salt along the highway.

You just have to love blind corners like this one. Thankfully, there are NO large vehicles on this road.

If you have never driven over Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park this picture will give you a good idea how about 10-mile on the west side of the pass will look.

This is part of the "Weeping Wall" named for the water weeping out of the limestone along this wall.

This is more of that weeping wall where water was oozing out along several hundred yards of this road cut.

This should be close enough for anyone.

By the time we have been to the top of Logan Pass and returned neither one of us can remember where this tunnel was but it was near the bottom of the 33-mile drive from the West Gate of Glacier National Park to Logan Pass located on the Continental Divide.

I hope you enjoyed this ride with us on Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park.

Until next time remember how good life is.

Mike & Joyce Hendrix