Going-to-the-Sun? More Like Going to the Storm!

Whitefish, MT → Swiftcurrent Lake, MT → Whitefish, MT
208.0 mi (334.7 km)

More 2021 Adventures

Good morning, sunshines!

I can’t tell you how excited I was to wake up this morning because my friends and I had scored a timed entry to Glacier National Park’s famous, Nationally Registered, super scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road! Like Rocky Mountain National Park, the National Park Service has been limiting entry for crowd control because of COVID-19, so getting a pass requires being online to book at exactly the right moment! And we got a pass, and we set out to see what we could see, which ultimately, by the time we got to Logan Pass, looked like this:

It was cloudy and windy and rainy and not too likely to let up! Our views from Going-to-the-Sun hadn’t been views at all! It was a shame, because Going-to-the-Sun Road was super interesting, 48.7 miles of road with 40,000 feet of historic guard walls built between 1922 and 1937! Spanning huge mountain ranges, the road had to both maximize tourist views while paying special attention minimizing impact on local vegetation! To us on this morning, not an inch was visible, so by the time we got to Logan Pass and saw how mighty Piegan Mountain was both shrouded and clouded, I wasn’t too optimistic about our chances of seeing anything at the end of a trail to a Hidden Lake!

Weather makes the high mountains spectacular when you’re not trying to stay upright for a photo! The wind whipped enormous cloud banks across the faces of the mountains with amazing speed, and as you may very well know, the weather can be very mischievous! When the clouds looked like they were going to raise or clear, the wind kicked up, and when the wind calmed down, the clouds rolled in! This made for some drama in the sky but really only gave half views of Glacier’s spectacular scenery!

So, just like in Denali, I took a look at some of the pretty sights closer to the ground, like these rocky ledge penstemons growing along a tiny burbling stream! Glacier National Park is home to almost a thousand wildflower species from unassuming glacial lilies to carnivorous sundews and butterworts!

Walking past a waterfall, I was reminded that a little bit of Glacier water goes a long way! From Triple Divide Peak southeast of here, water runs into three different oceans: the Pacific via the Columbia River, the Atlantic via the Missouri River, and the Arctic via the Nelson River! For this reason, it’s super important that this water stays clean and fresh!

Cresting the top of this 1.4 mile trail, we were completely up inside the clouds! There were no peaks to be seen at all! It was like being on top of the world in a secret chamber of nature! But it was also very cold and wet and very much not going-to-the-sunny…

Behold! The Hidden Lake overlook! As you can tell, there was not much to see when we arrived, but with squirrelly weather, a little patience goes a long way! Hanging at the top for ten minutes gave just enough of an opening for the mysterious glacial lake to peek through the gloom before hiding away once again! It’s true that there are no guarantees in nature, only chances taken!

So, we returned to the visitor center and headed down from the pass in search of fairer weather. Along the way, we got a reminder that fairer weather isn’t always better. The climate is changing here in Glacier National Park, and the many glaciers that gave it its name are quickly disappearing. There were 100 of them when the park was created in 1910, but only 25 today. By 2030, all the glaciers, like Jackson Glacier in the background of this photo, are likely to be gone.

As we continued down the mountain along St. Mary Lake, the sun started to emerge! Had we really got to the sun after all? The wind must have heard my musings, because it immediately said “No!” and covered up the mountaintops once again! But it was too late to stop me from getting at least one photo of the sun on the Going-to-the-Sun Road!

Circling out of the park through the town of Babb, we wrapped up our day at Swiftcurrent Lake in the Many Glacier area! It was still very cold and very windy, but the clouds had agreed to a high-altitude compromise, continuing their routine while leaving the mountains to be enjoyed against a dramatic background. It was just the right scene to be enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate inside the Nationally Registered Many Glacier Hotel!

As the clouds thickened and the rain resumed, we decided to head back to the hotel. The weather hadn’t given us the full glory of Going-to-the-Sun Road, but we’d made do with what we got! That’s a good rule to live by when you’re exploring in the Great Outdoors. Always look for something beautiful, even when it’s not what you expected!

The sun’ll come out tomorrow!