Road to the Sun, sort of...

The park we're in is busier than the proverbial one-armed paperhanger, so in order to squeeze us in for 4 days, they had to move us today from #25 to #31, a move of about 60 feet.  That couldn't happen until after the 11:00 am checkout time for #31, so at 11:30 we saddled up and drove around the block into the new space. Whew!  All of that put us late with our plans to explore the famous "Going to the Sun" road through Glacier NP.

We finally got out of town about 12:30, intending to drive just part way up the road to a short trail that we had heard about and then come back to camp.  We drove to the trail, and found that due to road construction, and the lack of turn around places, we were pretty much committed to going to Logan Pass at least, along Lake McDonald.

This part of the road was gorgeous, to say the least, and in good condition after the construction area, but we soon found out why this road is called one of the engineering marvels of the world.
You'll notice that we don't have any pictures of the really skinny places, as I was instructed not to stop under any circumstances by:

She Who Had Her Head Covered.....

At the top of Logan Pass, we were able to get a few pictures:

In the picture above, note the mountain top just peeking through the clouds.

There are still a few glaciers in the high valleys.













The road on the east side of Logan Pass was nice and smooth to the settlement of St. Mary, which is the east entrance to GNP.

From St Mary, we dropped south on Hwy 89 an Hwy 49 to hook up with our old friend US 2 for the return trip to Columbia Falls. We crossed over Marias Pass and the Continental Divide and stopped at a roadside rest where there is a monument noting that Marias Pass was named by Meriwether Lewis in honor of a lady in his family during the famous Lewis & Clark expedition.

So, after a leisurely 180 mile afternoon drive, we made it back to Columbia Falls.  The Going-to-the-Sun Road is justly famous for its grand views.  There is a sign at the beginning advising vehicles over 21 feet long not to continue.  I might add that vehicles over 7 feet wide shouldn't try it either, as there are park shuttle busses and pickups with campers and large mirrors trying to pass in some areas on a road carved into the side of the cliff in the 1920's.  Beware! But please go.  I suspect that the free park shuttle busses would be the preferred method.