Going to the Sun Road, denied.
One of the reasons we headed toward Missoula was so we could visit Glacier National Park. There is a wonderful road there called "Going to the Sun Road". It's one of those bucket list roads with beautiful vistas and breathtaking heights. Since we were going that way I thought it prudent to see Flathead Lake, which is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.
On the road we saw quite a few farms and small towns. Much of the signage along the road had the name in both English and Native American languages. Usually the meaning was also included, which was pretty cool.
This is a wildlife overpass.
Once at Flathead Lake we veered right on Hwy 35, a more scenic and shorter way to get to Glacier. Flathead is nearly 22 miles long and at some points 15 miles wide. Very pretty and the day we saw it, silky smooth.
Once we arrived at West Glacier we stopped at the Canadian Information center. Not that we really needed any information, we needed shelter from a storm. It had begun to rain again.
Once the rain cleared we headed into the park. The park ranger working the admission booth told us the road was only open up to Avalanche campground or about 16 miles. We had heard from our street sources that the road might be open by Sunday but that was not the case. The park is predicting June 20 for opening up the road and are clearing drifts as high as 100 feet.
We rode the 16 miles into the park and it was pretty although flat with lots of traffic. The elevation never left the river that the road followed. Backtracking out of the park we returned to Hwy 2 which follows the park boundaries on the south.
Arriving at St. Mary we tried to get a room at the St. Mary's Lodge and Motel but it was still closed until next week. We found this out from Mark, a local grocery store manager who happened to be from Memphis. Mark and his wife had traded the heat of Memphis for a cooler climate. He steered us to the Red Eagle motel just up the road.
The Red Eagle was built by the clerk's parents 50 years ago. Not much in upgrades had been done, except the price. It was clean and comfortable, and even though it was still daylight at 10 PM we were able to go to sleep quickly.
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