Driving The Going To The Sun Road......Many Glaciers....Friday 25th July

West Glacier Entrance....just inside is a Canadian Visitors Centre....Glacier NP and Waterton NP are jointly an International Peace Park World Heritage Site.....
Well bad news as we drive to the park,  Teryl from Better Views Blinds phones to say that they are unable to fix our blinds for us, she was very upset and apologetic, they had tried everything but there is a sealed portion of the workings which can only be fixed by the manufacturer....ho hum onto Plan C which at the moment is to buy 2 roller blinds or equivalent and fit ourselves....how hard can that be...ha ha we shall see...

We left the campsite in Columbia Falls, 15 miles from the entrance and it was partially cloudy but forecast is for a lovely sunny day....
This and next few photos are of MacDonald Creek that cascades down through these narrows into MacDonald Lake....

Beautiful clear aquamarine water.....

As we head up along the Going To The Sun Road look what comes the other way !!!!
They were still ploughing the road late June:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/GlacierNPS

This is Haystack Falls....it's fascinating how the water has stepped the falls, it makes it look man made but it's not....

As we head up to Logan Pass the clouds are thicker but some sun is trying to break through...wishful thinking ?
The road in the valley is the beginning of our days journey.......

Beautiful views back down through the valley....

The Weeping Wall...by mid August this will be reduced to a trickle....

The Road is an a amazing feat of engineering.....it was started in 1921 and finished in 1932 with only so many working days available in a year due to heavy snow fall....for more information on the construction of the road check out: http://visitmt.com/experiences/montana_extras/features/building.htm 

They have up to 80 feet of snow at Logan Pass....it takes 10 weeks to plough the road only completing on average  500ft per day.....the road is not usually opened until the end of June....

Bradda Ed our Hawaiian Hoola Man is still shaking his booty even though his skirt is shredding and he is getting paler by the day....on the rough sections of the  dirt road to Polebridge he hit his head on the windscreen several times and a small piece of his head gear broke off.......but he's our Lamb family mascot and has travelled many miles with us including our road trips in the US.....

One of the tunnels after Logan Pass going down the other side of the mountain to the east entrance of the park at St Mary..... 

Hurry up and take the picture, it's freezing out here !!!!

Cuddle up for warmth !!!!!
Although the clouds are thinning it is now really windy on this side of the mountain.....

This section of the road is not as dramatic but still interesting, it's a dirt road and at the moment has road works....some delays as parts are single lane with "pilot" car but we knew that and the wait was not too bad....

St Mary Lake, 4484ft elevation.....and blue skies !!!!
From here we exit the park and have a pleasant drive 21 miles to the Many Glaciers entrance of the park....
The wind is now blowing a hooley......

Oh wow we lucked out, we were parked in a scenic pull out deciding whether the waterfall we could see was worth leaving the truck for as the wind is so strong it's hard to get the doors open and  this mama Moose walks out from the wooded area and crosses the road...

Her little calf is just behind her...... this was our first close up moose sighting and in the safety of our car.....
It is so very windy that we take a quick look from the viewpoint of the Many Glacier Hotel originally built in the 1930's then manage to find a sheltered spot for our lunch sandwich then head back to Logan Pass and our return journey down The Going To The Sun Road.......

I have videos....

This and next pic The Weeping Wall.....

Going down requires more attention for the driver....the main accidents on the road are wing mirror damage.....

Wow what an amazing day.....this park is one of our favourites....
This fantastic day is rounded off by Yorkieman cooking yummy Bison steaks on the BBQ....
Another early alarm tomorrow, 0630, for our last day in the park and as it's Saturday it will be busy so up with the lark and away.....
The Very Happy Campers.....