Happily sitting in Calgary after returning from the US only day's ago the phone rang and a familiar voice asked üp to a quick trip Trip the United States? It was a no brain er people save for years to come to the US and here is a offer only cover your own meals and accommodation. It was a resounding YES.i already had USD, a current passport even an American Visa still current so the overnight bag was packed and next morning at 6.30am the car arrived at my front door for yet another new adventure.
Southwards pass familiar Canadian towns like Nanton (a subject of a previous blog on the Lancaster Plane), and onto Caraway the US/Canada border. Straight past the Canada side (unmanned or should one say unpersoned!!!Joke). The US border Babb was a stop and hand over passports but unlike other visits no need to get out must be my newly acquired TSA status only given to those traveler's who have been electronically checked and cleared.
Our next port of call in the United States was St Mary's a hotel,tourist shop,food and service station destination as well as serving as a gate way for entry into Glacial National Park and it's Canadian sister Waterton National Park.
Not only do these parks offer magnificent scenery,glacial formations and the maybe chance to see wildlife but the park is transgressed by a unique road. This road has been called the Road to the Sun. It is a seasonal road only opened once sufficient snow has melted on the roads surface to allow safe travel Snow can be found all summer long alongside the road and occasionally the road will be closed due to snow falls or landslides.
Such is the difficultly of negotiation of the road that only light not towing vehicles are permitted. Then again on the trip we came around a bend to be met with flashing red & blue lights as the Park Rangers had a truck towing a fifth wheeler pulled over. Would have loved to see how they got it turned around as there was no way it would have made it along the narrower parts of the road nearer the top. The road in the last five years has had a major addition. They have constructed a road side curb out of rocks but then again it is not meant to be a physical stop barrier as it is only about 30 cm's high.
Our route was designed to traverse the Road "Going To The Sun" in both directions.
This road is located in the United States in the State of Montana and is a scenic mountain road that is used to cross the Rocky Mountain range in Western USA.It is the only road that traverses Glacier National Park by crossing the Continental Divide through Logan Pass at an elevation of 2026m. Construction of the road began in 1921 and took until 1932 to be completed. Officially being opened on 15th July 1933. The finished length is approx 80kms.
Due to the elevation this road requires the largest single snow removal job annually in the US as up to 24 m of snow is removed at Logan Pass. This can be put into logic by saying this removal spans a minimum of ten weeks but can be extended and then maybe never completed in the Spring & Summer. Some times if cleared by snow removal equipment that can handle around 4000 tonnes per hour it maybe as little as 150 of cleared roadway per day.
This road way takes it's name from a mountain of the same name located near Logan Pass and clearly the most visual feature when traveling Eastwards on the road.
This road is also unique in that it was proposed and constructed as a road dedicated to tourism by automobiles and that was the reason back in 197 when Park Superintendent George Goodwin put the project to the Government. He never got to oversee the project as his route was modified and his role as engineer replaced by Thomas Vint's. The final cost was $2.5m Work on the road has never ceased since 1933.
For those not wishing to drive the road a featured travel method has been the red Bus. Began in 1933 and still operating to the present with only a brief withdrawal in the 200's when 33 of the red Jammers were modernised with modern Eco diesel motors of a dual fuel (LPG & Fuel) with automatic transmission. The cost well as you read later bus one over $1m Sounds simple but often this road is closed by deep snow cover which can last all summer. Another barrier is the frequent snow avalanches that come with both heavy winter snow and the melting snows of Spring.The road is now sealed but originally was of gravel construction. All along the route one marvels at the sheer magnitude of human efforts. Many times the whole road has been cut by the use of picks/shovels & dynamite into very steep mountain sides. When constructed they didn't enjoy modern means of transportation to and from the work site nor did they have equipment to easily haul away the split rocks. Even something as simple as fresh food was not an option in the road's construction. Natural features where not only the naturally occurring landscape but also the existing wildlife. This consisted of bears both Black & Grizzly along with Moose,Wolves,Cougar and less dangerous animals such as deers.The road is a two lane with many curves and some switch backs, Often there is no parking or area to move off the road surface and where turn outs do exist naturally it is a competition amongst all the tourists as to who gets the few vacant spots.
During the first traverse we were fortunate to have a clear sunny day however the return trip the next day was largely conducted in rain and fog which considerably added to the "excitement."
Wildlife can be abundant but our entire count was One Deer and One Big Horn sheep!
With such natural beauty it is fitting that the road and it's naturally scenery have featured in movies, In the 1980's the movie opening scenes of "The Shining" showed Saint Mary Lake,the East side tunnel and other sections of the road as the protagonists car traveled to the mountain resort hotel for the winter caretaker's job. Also in 1994 the well known movie "Forrest Gump" reminisces with Jenny about his run across the United States "Like that mountain lake,it was so clear Jenny it looked like there were two skies,one on top of the other." While he is saying this the background is Saint Mary Lake and the Going to the sun road.
Arriving at Apgar we only got to the second motel before we acquired accommodation at a family owned motel called The Evergreen. It was a self contained unit really but we chose to eat out and had difficulty finishing the meals in fact mine continued with me in a doggie box and became breakfast the next day. Despite being modern the motel was still cool and I was grateful that a spare quilt was available and it was quickly grabbed and made the night very comfortable on the added air mattresses . Time was taken up both on arrival and next morning discussing his tracking business and part ownership of the largest Big Bud tractor produced. (www.williamsbigbud.com)
The next morning we had a diversion into Whitefish. It was one of those towns lost in time but currently serving the needs of an ever increasing tourist base. The whole town was well presented with hanging flower arrangements in the main commercial centre and the architecture to match a past time. Unfortunately time did not permit a visit to the "famous" local saloon and grub spot but this was compensated for with lunch being taken at "Famous Dave's" in Kalispell after a shopping trip by my hosts to the local Costco.
The return trip while marred by rain and fog allowed scenery to be viewed that was behind us on the first East West crossing. A brief stop at St Mary at the park entrance and dinner (Supper) at a Family restaurant that I have used on numerous occasions in the past at Claresholm and a short 2 hour run back into Calgary completed a most enjoyable scenic and educational 39 hours in the US.