Day Eleven: Ice Ice Baby

Today we had made plans for a scenic drive through Glacier National Park. Just before entering the park, we were quickly reminded about just how close to Canada we were. Just outside the park entrance, we stopped to have a look around the Canadian visitor center. Inside they had a full museum about various aspects of Canada, wildlife, Mounties, etc. They even had one very patriotic T-Rex.

After we paid our entrance fee, we made a quick stop at the visitor center in order to get our bearings and began our ascent on the “Going to the Sun” road. The “Going to the Sun” road is a fifty mile stretch which cuts through the park. It passes by the two largest lakes in the area, follows a portion of the continental divide and provides scenic vistas of waterfalls, woodlands, and wildlife. The road was completed in 1932 and is both a National Historic landmark and a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

We stopped for a moment at the shore of Lake McDonald and then followed alongside the stream that feeds into the body of water. The water was crisp and clean and so clear that you could see all of the tumbled and polished rocks which lay on the bottom. The water also exhibited a brilliant blue hue as it pooled along the falls.

We soon began to see the mountain peaks looming up above us. It was also at this point that we were forced to slightly change our plans. As stated earlier, we passed through a gate to enter the park AND stopped at the entrance visitor center. At neither one of these points were we told that we would not be able to take our camper on the road through the park. However, when we reach roughly mid way on the road, signs were set up informing us about width and length restrictions. We had to make a quick decision, either leave the park, or leave the camper and double back for it.

With the camper stored away in a parking lot, we made our second attempt at the “Going to the Sun” road.

As we drove through the mountain passes, we were able to see where the glacial streams have carved their way through the mountains. Some of the waterfalls, such as Bird Woman Falls and Buffalo Woman Falls, were still visible. The way that the road is designed, there are many times where you actually pass right by and over top of the flowing water.

In some places, there was even snow still laying in the paths that the ice has carved through the mountainsides over the years.

Glacier Park prides itself on the variety of wildlife found within it. Although we saw many signs along the hiking paths warning us about possible bear encounters and the presence of other creatures, our visit to Glacier was very much like Yellowstone…bear-less (in fact, the only bear we've even seen was a stuffed one in the Canada welcome center!). We did however see more mountain goats.

We also saw a great deal of construction. We were warned that delays may take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. This is because countless construction crews were working on improving drainage, widening the road, and restoring roadside barriers.

We finally made it to one of the glacier overlooks. Off in the distance we could see Jackson Glacier. What we see today is actually only 25% of the same glacier as seen in 1850. In fact, due to melting, there are only 26 glaciers left in the park, in comparison to the 150 estimated to be there when the land was initially surveyed in the 1850s.

The day was getting away from us, and the sky was darkening so we decided to backtrack and grab the camper. Just as we were hitching up, the skies burst open and the rain began. Driving back by Lake McDonald it was amazing to see the change that had overcome the park. The once placid surface was not dark and riddled with waves.

We then began our task of making our way around the border of the park. Skirting its perimeter on county roads we soon matched up with the park exit where we had planned to be roughly 3 hours earlier that day.

To make up for lost time, we spent the rest of the day driving and made camp in Miles City, MT much later in the night than we would have hoped.

A word of caution to anyone who may be attempting the back roads of Montana any time soon… beware of the deer. We caused one casualty to the deer population of the plains. No damage was done to the truck thankfully, sadly the same cannot be said for the tiny doe who panicked once we popped over the crest of the hill. Carl assured me that death came quickly and it was the most humane way to go via collision with a Toyota bumper and a BF Goodrich tire.