Merica Road Trippin Chapter 4 Heaven's Peak

This trip only came about because of a suggestion from my co-pilot.  While Yellowstone was mentioned in our initial conversation, I didn't want to fight July crowds in Yellowstone.  We plotted out this path instead.  I'm so glad that we did, Glacier National Park is an amazing place. 

This was technically just a road trip, we were basically just passing through the area while making our way back home from Oregon.  Our path exploring this area would take us along the Going-To-The-Sun Road.  It's a 52-mile route that takes you West to East through the park. I would consider going back sometime.  The raw, undeveloped beauty of this area, leaves one without words to describe the impression it has left in my memory.  Coming from a guy who has spent most of his vacations at the beach, you know I was impressed. The views are jaw dropping.  

We were up early and at the West Glacier entrance before 6:00a.m.  We made a reservation and purchased a time entry pass months ahead.  If you consider going there, you can get the information you need at https://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm. The reservation was good for 3-days on the Going-To-The-Sun Road.  There are other roads in the park that require a separate reservation. A pass is also required to enter the park.  We have a Senior Lifetime National Park pass.

I had done some research about the park, so my expectations were high.  The park did not disappoint, although I was concerned during the first 10 miles along lake McDonald.  They were actively milling the pavement in preparation to lay new blacktop, the pull-offs along the lake were closed, but after we got past this area it was pretty smooth sailing.  The road had only fully opened at the end of June. Glacier on average gets around 16 foot of snow.  It takes some time to get the road back open.  The road typically shuts down in October.  

July 4th in Oregon at Jim and Angela's

So I'm taking a picture of the fireworks and my co-pilot walks up behind me and places her hand on my shoulder.  I'm thinking to myself, “Awe, we're about to have a moment here,” then she says “Just practicing shoving you in front of the bear when we get to Glacier”  47 years of True Love there!

 

BREAKING NEWS!  TODAY I IDENTIFY AS A TREE HUGGER!!

Look at the size of this burl

These Boots are made for walking!

"I always feel like somebody's watching me"

And I have no privacy!

Who's watching Me?

Avalanche lake 

The trail right before Avalanche Lake narrows to a small path! Hey Yogi, you in there??

The trail of the cedars and Avalanche Lake trail connect together. The total is a 6-mile hike with an elevation gain around 575 feet.  It's a popular trail, parking at the trailhead can be a challenge if you're not there early. There were lots of people on the trail that day.  We brought some hiking boots for this trip, and I'm glad we did.  I can't believe we saw people on this trail in flip-flops!  I'm sure they paid for it at the end of the day. My co-pilot says next hike she's getting a walking stick.

We also met a guy at Avalanche lake.  As we are having a casual conversation, he asked us if we were from Missouri?  I immediately began looking around to see if we were wearing any clothing that said Missouri on it!  No nothing, apparently we have an accent!! Personally, I think he spotted us getting out of our vehicle back at the trailhead and was just playing games.  What do y'all think?

RedRock falls

The Going-To-The-Sun Road construction started in 1921 and was completed in 1933.

What's the lowest hourly wage you ever worked for?  For me, I think it was around $1.50 an hour in the 70's working a minimum wage job doing extremely dangerous work washing dishes!    

The men that built this road made $.50-$1.15 per hour. Men known as “Powder Monkeys” would hang from hemp ropes, drilling into the cliff's side and placing powder to blast the path for the road.

Cat skinners were the guys that drove the bulldozers and graders, they were paid the best along with the Powder Monkeys.  

One young Montana lad showed up to work as a cat skinner, and the foreman waved him off, saying he was too young. The kid replied, “See that guy working the grader? That’s my little brother, and I taught him everything he knows.” He got hired on the spot.

This generation was going into the great depression and men were desperate for work.  They must have also been a little crazy!

Jackson Glacier

This is just a small sampling of the pictures we took on this leg of our trip.  When you realize the size of this park and the number of trails it has to offer, we just barely scratched the surface. Most of these picture were taken right off the Going-To-The-Sun Road.  

We downloaded an app called "GuideAlong" it has an audio tour for the Going-To-The-Sun road. It will determine your location in the park and give interesting bits of information and history along the way.  They have several audio tours of various National Parks.  We could Bluetooth onto the car stereo and listen to it as we drove through.  There is a charge for the individual audio tours, but I felt like it was worth it. 

Some things I would consider for future trips. #1 spend more than one day.  If I entered the West entrance as we did this time I would scope out an area close that I wanted to check out like we did with the hike to Avalanche lake. Getting there first thing in the early morning, you can avoid the aggravation of trying to find a parking spot at the trailhead. 

I would leave the park on the east end at the end of the day.  Find a place to stay outside of the park, then re-enter the park on the East end the next day. Arrive early again to avoid parking issues.  When we reached Logan's Pass (which is on the east end) in the afternoon, there was no hope of finding a parking spot at the visitor's Center.  It was so crowded that rangers were manning the entrance and exit to the parking lot. Hidden Lake is a popular trail where the trailhead starts at Logan's pass.

I got to tell you, I don't know if I'll ever make it to heaven.  Seems like I only talk to God when I need a favor.  But today I can say we saw Heaven's Peak!