“The Ramparts of God” Part of the joy in being retired is freedom of time and as the temperature began to approach the 100’s in Billings I decided to leave town and spend three weeks exploring the Rocky Mountains of northwestern Montana. The plan is to head northwest from Billings to Glacier National Park, cross over into the Flathead Valley, explore the forests of the northwest corner of Montana, then turn east and tour central Montana before returning south to Billings. Augie the doggie and I packed up and hit the road. Come along!
St. Mary, MT to Logan Pass in Glacier National Park and back
Glacier National Park contains nearly one million acres (4,000 square kilometers) of virtually pristine natural environment and together with the adjacent Bob Marshall Wilderness and Rocky Mountain Front to the south, protects over 1,600 square miles of stunning natural beauty. This is not a park that can be completely explored by auto. Glacier is one of the premier hiking destinations in the North America and 95% of the park is only accessed on foot or horse. The area was carved by massive glaciers which, upon retreating, left deep U-shaped valleys running east and west away from the “Backbone of the World”, as native Americans referred to the mountains. As the glaciers retreated they left small moraines, or ridges, blocking the valleys, and a series of lakes were formed on both sides of the Continental Divide. In 1885 George Grinnell came to the area on a hunting expedition and began the movement towards the creation of a national park. His efforts were bolstered by James J. Hill when he brought the Great Northern Railroad to the area in 1891, which touchs the current park at East Glacier and runs south along the southern boundary of the park across the Marias Pass and on to Seattle, Washington. The park was officially established in 1910. After the creation of the park, a subsidiary of the Great Northern Railroad, led by Louis Hill (son of founder James J. Hill) established a series of small chalets through the park as well as a couple of major hotels, all designed to mimic structures from Switzerland, as Hill billed Glacier as “America’s Switzerland.” On the eastern side of the park there are three major glacial valleys which can be accessed by auto, Many Glacier to the north, St. Mary in the middle, and Two Medicine on the south. On the west only the Lake McDonald Valley (the western section of the famed Going to the Sun Highway) is easily accessible by vehicle. The rest of the west, commonly known as the North Fork area, can be entered on rugged dirt roads suitable for four-wheel drive vehicles (which the Lunch Box is not!) Hill built grand hotels at Many Glacier to the north and East Glacier to the south, but the St. Mary Valley was not really visited much until the completion of the cross-park “Going to the Sun” Highway.
The highway is the only road connecting both sides of the park, starting at St. Mary on the east and ending at West Glacier on the west. It spans 53 miles, rising to the Continental Divide at Logan Pass in the center of the park. The two ends of the highway skirt Lake McDonald on the west and St. Mary Lake on the east, while the middle section is chiseled out of the soaring peaks of the “Crown of the Continent.” The road was completed in 1932. The amount of traffic has grown so much in the last couple of decades and combined with the recent growing popularity of motor homes, led to the National Park Service to establish limits on the size of vehicle that can transit the park. Only vehicles smaller than 21 feet long, 10 feet high, and 8 feet wide are permitted, effectively banning non-van motorhomes (including the Lunch Box). Fortunately for us, at the same time they began a free shuttle bus service that spans the length of the highway, stopping at various sites along the way. Thus our exploration of the St. Mary Valley will be via shuttle, with some pictures taken through the shuttle windows! The road starts at the St. Mary Visitor Center at the east end of St. Mary Lake (and only a mile from our campground).
The road winds along the north side of St. Mary Lake for nearly 10 miles. These views are looking south from the shuttle.
Leaving the lake behind us we make the climb up to the Logan Pass Visitor Center. A small waterfall glistens across the valley.
The road shoulders are non-existent, the road steep and narrow, and, of course, there is road construction. Fortunately we time it just right and don’t have to stop! The views just keep on coming…
As we crawl around a hair-pin curve at Siyeh Bend we can see our road across the canyon above us.
Just a quarter mile further we are at the apex of the bend. On the left is the road climbing up the mountain, on the right is the road heading down.
And the views continue…
Finally we pull into the Logan Pass Visitors’ Center. It’s about 11am and the parking lot is full with cars circling, looking for a spot. Rangers are directing traffic, people are everywhere but the shuttle gets precedent so we pull right up to the curb! The visitor center sits on the side of a small hill.
I climb up to the viewing platform and again am rewarded with a stellar 360 degree view. This series of pictures documents one of my rotating picture series.
First, looking northeast (that’s the shuttle bus parked next to the curb – it has 20 seats).
Now, turning to my left, the view to the northwest, which follows the Continental Divide.
Continuing to my left, the view directly west.
Now, the southwest.
Now, the southeast.
And finally, looking directly east down the St, Mary Valley.
It actually was relatively warm up here at the top and the crowd was bustling. Many are hikers getting ready to set out for the back country. The road down has the shuttle on the outside lane, sometimes with a curb wall of stone, most of the time nothing but space. If you think I’m kidding look at how close the shuttle is to the curb in this picture.
And of course, the views continue…
The drive down was not without its’ “human moments” as well. A young couple with five children (all under the age of nine) got on for the ride back to St. Mary. The youngest, probably 18 months old, pretty much screamed the entire way. The other two young girls (maybe 4 and 5) ran back and forth around the back of the bus, just in front of one increasingly cranky old retiree (that would be me!) The parents never twitched an eye nor said a word. Then my luck continued to ebb as we got stuck in the road construction, where we sat still for 40 minutes waiting for our turn to go. Fortunately the shuttle had air conditioning, otherwise something bad might have happened. Just saying… Here’s the view out the back window and a shot of the interior of the shuttle (the little girl right in front of me is hiding from the camera and that’s the dad in the orange t-shirt). I’m excited…
Finally we get going and fortunately the views just keep on coming… This is the view from a pull-out at the west end of St. Mary Lake, looking east.
Keep in mind that while this little adventure took over four hours, we actually only travelled about 36 miles round trip and did not touch other side of the Continental Divide. Quite a lot packed into a valley only 18 miles long!
Next up: East Glacier and Two Medicine Valley
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