THE ROAD IS OPEN!! GLACIER THIS YEAR AND LAST

July 13 was GLORIOUS -- and may be my most favorite day yet this year. The "Going-to-the-Sun" Road opened today, and it was the latest opening since the park was founded in 1910 (last was July 10, 1943 because of WWII). This was caused by an incredibly hard and snowy winter, leaving a snow pack that was about twice normal size. On July 7, the crews were still cutting through an area called the "Big Drift" which was almost 50 feet deep.

(Glacier and Waterton joined together in 1932 to become the first International Peace Park)


I absolutely had to be in the park on July 13 to drive the road and see how much snow was left. And the park did not disappoint. With my interest in photography, I knew I needed to be up early and onto the road to catch the best light, so I did get to the park around 7AM (which my photography teacher told me was too late). Good move on my part -- everyone else within 100 miles apparently wanted to drive the road as well.

(This was the "must take" photo to give you an idea of the depth of the snow)


Even early, the parking lot at Logan Pass (highest point on the road at over 6600 feet), was half full. Some people were carrying ski's and snowshoes, which was a wise decision --there is still probably 8 feet of snow on the ground. Walking across the snow could mean "post holeing" (new term I learned at Glacier) through the snow. One person wearing snow shoes with ski's on his back -- obviously going to take the easy way BACK to the visitor center.

But some people are CRAZY, and actually tried to walk to Hidden Lake across this snow -- hard to do and not very smart.

(The people are the little dots on the BIG snow pack)

Last year I hiked this area up to Hidden Lake -- on an actual path and board walk. I think the snow is so deep this year, it may not totally melt. And that is a shame, as this area is a beautiful meadow with wildflowers as far as you can see. Probably not this year.

This revelation gave me an idea for this particular posting -- show pictures of this year and last year so you can experience the real difference in the snow as well as the amount of melt that is going through the park.

(Logan Pass in 2010)


So.....enough pictures of snow. I continued along the road to the east side of the park and a hike to St. Mary's Falls and Virginia Falls (highly recommend). But not before I spent some time sitting still in a construction zone. The road gets damaged by the snow and the avalanches, and much of the stone wall (which keeps your vehicle from dropping 3,000 feet off the side of the mountain) is also being replaced. The "flaggers" are always interesting. I talked to this lady for a while -- she's been flagging for 19 years, and 14 of those have been in Glacier (I'm sure on this same road).

("The Pink Flagger" -- she even has "bling" on her helmet)

I could go on and on about the beautiful hike to the falls, but I'm going to let the pictures tell you what you will see. The photo's below show the falls in 2010 and 2011. The difference is amazing. And this is why we warn visitors to the park to be very careful around the water. Drowning and dying from hypothermia is the largest cause of death in the park.




(St. Mary's Falls - 2010)










(St. Mary's Falls - 2011)


















(Running Eagle Falls - 2010)











(Running Eagle Falls - 2011)








I've pulled a picture of Virginia Falls from the Internet. This was my first visit, and I'm so glad I made the 3 mile round trip hike.




(Virginia Falls - prior to this year)

I'm guessing in normal years, you can actually get to the bottom of the falls to take a photo from this perspective. I need to show 3 different photos to get the entire falls. Of course, if I had dived into the raging river below, assumed my camera would survive the dive and water, and then took a picture from the bottom before my head went under for the last time -- I could have had a FABULOUS picture. But I decided living was better than getting that particular shot.


River approaches the top of the falls.......










Here is the middle section of the falls......











And here is the bottom section. If you look at the prior year's photo, you can see most of this as just rock.











And last, but not least, here is the falls with a technique called "fogging" the water. Thought this one looked kind of neat.



















THE ROAD IS OPEN!! Come on out!