Disclaimer: I think I got most of the geographic features and locations labeled correctly in all of today’s pictures.
Today’s adventure is back into Glacier National Park on a half-day tour with Sun Tours on Going-to-the-Sun Road (GTTSR) which crosses the park. During peak season you must have a vehicle reservation or book a tour to continue past the Apgar Visitor Center if you drive from the West to the East between 7am and 3pm. No reservations are necessary entering from the east at St. Mary.
The nearly 50-mile road runs from West Glacier to St. Mary on the eastern side of the park. It was built between 1921-1932 with a formal dedication in 1933. Initially, we were going to attempt to get a vehicle reservation and drive it ourselves (well, Dave would have been the one driving). But, after watching a video and seeing how narrow and curvy the road is in places as it climbs through Logan Pass at 6646 feet, Dave started looking to leave the driving to someone else! This is one of the most scenic drives in the country, but if he were driving, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the scenery because he’d need to be too focused on driving.
There are two options, the iconic and historic Red Bus Tours operated by Xanterra or Sun Tours operated by the Blackfeet. We decided that the Sun Tours bus looked more comfortable than the restored red buses from the 1930s and we looked forward to hearing the perspective of a Native American tour guide. By the time we decided on this we couldn’t get a reservation on the full-day tour, so we booked the half-day tour which goes approximately 30 miles from the Apgar Visitor Center to the Logan Pass Visitor Center. The full route to St. Mary is shown below with a stop at Logan Pass.
We arrived early and there was no backup at the West Glacier turn into the park. I’d been watching Google maps for several days and often there were red lines indicating traffic backups at this time of morning.
We wanted to ensure we got to the Apgar parking lot in plenty of time to use the facilities and wander around a little before our tour time.
Paula and I found a couple of deer walking through the nearby woods just off the path.
At the pickup spot by the parking lot, we met other people waiting for our tour, including a couple of Texans – one a Baylor grad (seems we find at least one on all of our trips!), the other an Aggie. Our guide, Kimma, picked us up right on time. She waited a few minutes for a couple of no-shows, then we began our trip east across the park. I think there were 13-14 of us. She wanted to get us on up to Logan Pass before it got too crowded, so we only made two stops on the way up. I snapped a few pictures out the bus window to reflect the drive.
The first stop was at a pullout a little way past “The Loop” (the big tight bend in the road) for the views.
The second stop was at Oberlin Bend just before reaching Logan Pass Visitor Center to see the mountain goats. Our timing here was fantastic as the tour guide just a few minutes behind Kimma said they had gone when he passed by.
Of course, there was also more scenery to view from the Oberlin Bend Lookout point just a short walk from the parking area.
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Haystack Butte, Mt Gould – Oberlin Bend Lookout – Dave and Nancy 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Oberlin Bend Lookout – Keith and Paula 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Oberlin Bend Lookout – Highline Trail at Pollock Mountain 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Creek – Oberlin Bend Lookout – Dave and our bus 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Creek – Oberlin Bend
Then it was on to the Logan Pass Visitor Center where we had about 30-40 minutes to explore.
The Visitor Center and shop was a madhouse – you could hardly move. We glanced at a couple of displays and made our way outside to the views of Clements Mountain, Mount Oberlin, Reynolds Mountain, Heavy Runner Mountain, and the eponymous Going-to-the-Sun Mountain.
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass, Reynolds Mountain 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass, Reynolds Mountain 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass, Clements Mountain 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass, Clements Mountain, Mt Oberlin 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass, Reynolds Mountain, Clements Mountain 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass – Columbian Ground Squirrel 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass, Garden Wall, Mt Gould, Bishops Cap, Pollock Mountain 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass, Going-to-the-Sun Mountain, Heavy Runner Mountain 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass, Glacier Lilies 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Logan Pass Visitor Center, Pollock Mountain
On the return, we snapped a few pictures from the bus and stopped at a few more pullouts to take in the views before Kimma returned us to the Apgar parking lot. The U-shaped valleys are a reminder of the huge glaciers that formed them during prior ice ages.
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Garden Wall, Mount Gould, Bishops Cap 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Clements Mountain, Mt Cannon 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Clements Mountain 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Weeping Wall 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Mt Cannon, Heavens Peak – Nancy, Dave, and Paula 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Mt Cannon, Bird Woman Falls 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Mt Cannon, McDonald Creek, Heavens Peak 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Haystack Creek 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – Livingston Range 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – McDonald Creek – Sacred Dancing Cascade 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – McDonald Creek looking downstream from Sacred Dancing Cascade 
Glacier National Park – Going-to-the-Sun Road – McDonald Creek – Sacred Dancing Cascade – Paula, Nancy, Dave
Kimma was a great guide and driver. She provided lots of information about the history of the area along with a few “Indian” jokes to keep it entertaining as well as informative.
We all agreed that leaving the driving to someone else was the way to go, so that we could all enjoy the views and the scenery. We wish we could have done the entire route as just a short distance past Logan Visitor Center is where you can glimpse one of the few remaining glaciers, but maybe that gives us a reason to go back some day.
Enroute back to the house, we crossed the Flathead River in Columbia Falls on Hwy 2.
Today was mine and Dave’s 21st anniversary, so we all went to eat dinner at The Montana Club in Kalispell, then to Costco again to pick up more supplies for the Yellowstone portion of our trip, then back to the house for our nightly ritual of card playing. We passed some wild turkeys by the road near the house on the way back. It was a full day!
Tomorrow we drive south to West Yellowstone for five nights.
Notes By Nancy 
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