Going to the Sun Road

Bird Woman Falls

We decided to do a complete loop today by starting to head South then West from our Campground on U.S. 2. If we've ever done this highway, it was long ago. We made our way to the top of Steven’s Pass, named for the railroad surveyor that suggested this as the route for the railway. It’s the lowest pass over the Continental Divide in the state of Montana. Many years, later it also was the route of the Roosevelt Highway connecting Portland, Maine with Portland, Oregon. An interesting factoid: this was the last part of the highway to be completed, for many years, you put your car on a train to get from East Glacier to West Glacier. The ride down the western slope of the pass was much steeper, and we saw that the train track had quite a few places where it was roofed to reduce closures from avalanches.

Bear Grass

From West Glacier, we headed into the park for the Going to the Sun Road. The line of cars trying to get into the park was so long, that eventually they just let everyone through the park entrance without having to stop. This was the start of lots of crowds. I had planned two hiking stops, one at Avalanche Picnic Area and one at Logan Pass. We couldn't find a parking place at either location! But it didn't stop us from having a good time. We stopped along McDonald creek a couple times for pictures and for lunch. Then the road began climbing rapidly. The Going to the Sun Road is a fairly narrow road with dramatic drop-offs, we could often see far below us, where we were only minutes before. Across from us on Mt Oberlin, we could see Bird Woman Falls cascading down 482 feet. We stopped at Lunch Creek on the way down, the bear grass was magnificent. I took a short hike up the stream snapping pictures of the multiple waterfalls and the flowers along the creek bed. We also stopped for the view of Jackson Glacier, the best view from the road of the one of the remaining 25 glaciers in the park. They expect all the glaciers to melt by 2030. On the way home, we took the MT 42, a highway which just barely hangs on to the slope – lots of potholes and rockson the road. But it gave us terrific views of the Two Medicine area, including a view of both upper and lower Two Medicine Lake. Not the day I had planned, but still a fun and interesting day. 

Lunch Creek