Beware: Glacier national park

[TravelingZombies]

Got to west glacier this morning to drive the going to the sun road but you need a ticket to do it. The ranger explained that because there were so many people visiting the park this year they had trouble getting up and down the road during emergencies. 
Just a good reason to come back next year I guess.

 

[izifaddag]

Thanks. I wanted to go there.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

I was there 2 weeks ago. Did the Sun Road in the maximum allowed sized vehicle, very stressful. If you you get to the ranger booth before 0600 or after 1800 you can get in without a ticket. But beware, by 08:30, the place is mobbed and you can't park anywhere.

 

[user 30781]

Oh that looks like such a beautiful drive. I don't know how I feel about the lack of guardrails though.

I wish I had visited Glacier when I lived in North Idaho, it wasn't too far.

 

[NctryBen]

That’s how I remember Zion was around Christmas last year. Only so many cars could be on the one road at a given time. You had to get there before 8:30 or 9 or you were outta luck! They must have used there fingers to count, cause they had about a tenth the allotted vehicular in personal at the intersection to implement that. Haha.

 

[kklowell]

Would have been nice to know that before you got there, huh? That's a bummer.

 

[TravelingZombies]

We were going to go last year but COVID-19 hit and glacier had closed the road because it went through the reservation and the natives didn't want the traffic going into the rez, no problem. This was a surprise but not the end of the world, it just gives us a reason to come back next year.

 

[lab_nomad]

I love natural beauty, but I love solitude more. Years ago I was at the Grand Canyon, and I couldn’t believe how many freakin’ people were there. Lots of them foreigners (not that there’s anything wrong with that). When are they taking those pictures? You never see a person in those pictures; it’s deceiving.

 

[wayne49]

Yosemite has timed entry.

Easy enough to check a web site to see the current conditions and policies.

Know before you go.

 

[VanFan]

I love natural beauty, but I love solitude more. Years ago I was at the Grand Canyon, and I couldn’t believe how many freakin’ people were there...

X2.  Can't even imagine those places being more crowded than when I was a kid.  The Grand Canyon had always been on my "avoid" list, but I gave in summer before last.  We must have hit it just right!  It was unbelievably uncrowded during our three day visit over the (get this) 4th of July.  There were only four or five cars ahead of us at the entrance and no waiting for shuttles inside.  We enjoyed it immensely!  When we left, the entrance line was at least a mile long, which was more what I expected.

Glacier is on my 'wanna list, but between the short season and fires, it just hasn't worked out yet.  So glad some of you have had a chance to check it out!

 

[TravelingZombies]

Little Big Horn and Crazy horse are not to busy and plenty of room for visitors. Also, the large gravel area in front of Crazy horse allows for overnight parking but is right next to highway.

 

[[email protected]]

We were in kelispell in June last year as the GTS road was opening. Yes, you need to get a separate "pass" to to ride the road at a cost of $2 bucks plus a regular park pass.. or you can go before 8 or 9 in the morning or go after 5 or 6 pm and ride for free..

BEST part is in the afternoon the traffic is down the sun is lower and the animals are more active the later it gets in the evening.. One evening after coming back from the Logan pass trip and it was a bit after sunset we were about a mile from the avalanche campground gate we were surprised by a moose running across the road in FRONT of us.. I was able to slow down and jog over and miss him but WOW a fricken moose.

the drive from the east side is quite the drive in the afternoon as you are latterly driving into the sun on the Going to the Sun road..

 

[SLB_SA]

In 1993 I was driving on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Thunder Bay heading to Winnipeg at night when a (huge) moose walked to the middle of the highway and just stood there for 10-15 minutes. We stopped and didn't continued our trip until the moose decided to move on. A moose is a big, tall animal; in a crash, the car probably losses. I've seen plenty of Roosevelt elk (or Roosevelt's wapiti) near Prairie Creek State Park north of Eureka and they are good sized animals (up to 1100 pounds) but a moose can weigh up to 1500+ pounds and be almost 7 feet tall at the shoulder. The names of these members of the deer family is an interesting topic. In Eurasia, a "moose" is called an elk. According to wikipedia, "the wapiti was often called a gray moose and the moose was often called a black moose." These are amazing animals. (According to a family friend who was an Eagle Scout, boy scouts on camping trips in northern Minnesota or western Ontario who were canoeing would grab the antlers of a swimming moose and get a free ride; they let go before getting too close to shore. Was this a true story or was my leg being pulled? Have you heard of this before?)

 

[rruff]

I love natural beauty, but I love solitude more. Years ago I was at the Grand Canyon, and I couldn’t believe how many freakin’ people were there.

I had the same impression. But the "official" north side is much nicer. And I spent a month camping right on the rim SE of St George and didn't see a soul... this was in the 90s... probably busier now.

 

[BelgianPup]

Re: free ride via moose... I don't know the answer, but what do you do if the moose goes in the wrong direction?

 

[AmargosaWayne]

In Sweden they crash test vehicles into a simulated moose. A low profile front end will get under the body, the massive moose body then hits the windshield area, and that's a bad outcome for the occupants.

As to a free ride via swimming moose, probably just another tall tale from the land of Paul Bunyan.

I would think the USFS, which oversees the US side of the BWCA, would be very concerned about such activity involving wildlife.

Canoes are not very stable watercraft, easy to tip a canoe and get dunked.

Back in the early 1960's, the BSA canoe travelers did not have a good reputation. Running their aluminum canoes up onto the rocky shores, leaving enduring aluminum streaks on the rocks.

I was there in 1962 at a YMCA camp. Macintosh Lake in Canada is like an infinity pool, the lake is high up, and the surface is the highest point around. What an unforgettable view.