Tag Archives: snow plowing

More facilities open at Glacier Park; lots of plowing left to do

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From the Glacier Park weekend update . . .

Park Officials announced the opening of more services and roads for the summer season. Currently, there are over 90 miles of road open within Glacier National Park which access all areas of the park, with more services opening every week. The road into Cutbank Creek opened on Thursday, June 9 and the campground is scheduled to open on June 17. Avalanche Campground and Rising Sun Motor Inn opened on June 10. Saint Mary boat tours also began operation on June 10.

With an unusually heavy snowpack, park officials are striving to set reasonable and safe goals for openings and have announced a few delays. Sperry Chalet will delay opening from July 8 to July 15, due to significant, lingering snowpack. Two Medicine boat trips will delay opening until conditions warrant. Many Glacier, Two Medicine, and Cutbank Campgrounds will open June 17, at the earliest. These dates are based on current conditions and may be adjusted as conditions warrant.

Plowing continues on the Going-to-the-Sun Road (Sun Road). Initial plowing has been complete to the Big Bend, five miles beyond the Loop, on the west side. Crews are encountering drifts between 10 and 20 feet. On the east side, crews are plowing the No Stump Point area, approximately one mile beyond Siyeh Bend. There is no date set for when the upper section of the Sun Road will be cleared for across park travel.

On the west side, there will be a hiker/biker restriction at Packer’s Roost, six miles beyond Avalanche Creek on Saturday, June 11 due to construction…

Continue reading . . .

Related reading: Crews still plowing Going-to-the-Sun Road

More roads open up in Glacier National Park

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Glacier National Park dug out some more last week.

On the North Fork side, for anyone willing to brave the road, the Bowman Lake Road and campground are open (no potable water yet). Also, the inside North Fork Road is now open as far south as Logging Creek.

Lake McDonald Lodge opens today and Glacier Park Boat Company and the Red Buses will begin operating tours.

They’ve still got lots of plowing left to do on the Sun Road, of course.

See the official press release for details. The Daily Inter Lake also has a summary.

Glacier Park digs out slowly

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Glacier National Park is making steady progress with snow removal, but this year’s substantial snowpack and the continuing avalanche danger are limiting road openings. On the North Fork side, the Camas Road is open, as is the Inside North Fork Road from the ranger station to Big Prairie. All other roads are officially closed to vehicle traffic. See this weekend’s press release for details.

2011 Spring plowing is underway in the park

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They’re starting to move snow in Glacier National Park and they have plenty extra this year. Don’t expect Logan Pass access before mid-June at best and, as usual, they are letting Camas and the inside North Fork Road melt out on their own. Read the press release for all the gory details . . .

Glacier National Park road crews have begun spring snow plowing on the park’s roads and are finding substantial amounts of snow. Flattop and Many Glacier Snotel sites, snow measuring stations, are showing between 20 and 40 percent above normal snow water equivalent. Last week, USGS snow survey crews recorded 100 inches of snow on the ground at Siyeh Bend, two miles east of Logan Pass, and 140 inches of snow at the 7,500 foot elevation nearby.

Park crews began plowing the Chief Mountain Road, near the park’s northeast corner on Tuesday, March 15. The crews then focused their efforts on the Two Medicine Road. Instead of the three foot drifts they normally encounter at this time of year, the crews were plowing drifts up to eight feet deep. As soon as weather and road conditions permit, visitors will be able to drive to Running Eagle Falls. The Many Glacier Road will be the focus of east side plowing efforts this week. At present, crews are encountering drifts over ten feet deep. The Many Glacier Road will not open to motor vehicles until the third weekend of April at the earliest, to reduce stress on wildlife in critical winter range.

On the west side, the crews have completed plowing Apgar Village and one lane on the Camas Road. The Camas and Inside North Fork Roads will be allowed to melt out prior to opening. Plowing of the Going-to-the-Sun Road (Sun Road) began on Friday, April 1, beyond the Lake McDonald Lodge. Crews are encountering 12-36 inches of snow with two to six inches of ice on the road surface. Once the crews plow beyond Avalanche Creek, HK Contractors will continue rehabilitation of the Sun Road along Upper McDonald Creek and on both sides of Logan Pass.

Because of the contract to rehabilitate the Sun Road, the earliest possible opening of the road in its entirety would be June 17, weather and road conditions dependent. Spring snow storms play a large factor in safely opening the Sun Road to two-way motor vehicle traffic. Once the plow crews are working in the higher elevations, visitors will be able to drive to Avalanche Creek on the west side and Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east side.

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson: Snow piling up on the North Fork

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This week, Larry Wilson talks about the higher than normal snowpack on the North Fork and the possible consequences when it starts to thaw . . .

I doubt if anyone on the North Fork is unhappy to see the end of February 2011. In the last two weeks nearly 36 inches of snow fell on the Trail Creek area. This was on top of nearly two feet of settled snowpack.

Before that — all in February — we had two shots of minus 20 degrees as well as two shots of thawing temperatures with heavy rain. Not unheard of in past winters, but a real challenge if you want to go to town.

Folks who plow their lane just plain ran out of room to pile snow and had to contact neighbors with bigger plows or with bigger snowblowers. Thank goodness for Mike Edy, Tom Franchini, Denis Moris and Larry Crane who combined to keep Trail Creek Road and private lanes open with their tractor snowblowers.

Continue reading . . .

Mud season: bears and snowplows

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It looks like mud season — er, uh… Spring — is on its way.

According to an article in the Flathead Beacon, “Grizzly and black bears are emerging from their dens in Glacier National Park.” If they are up and foraging for food in the park, we’ll likely be seeing them on the North Fork, too.

Glacier National Park has started its spring plowing activities. The Daily Inter Lake has extensive details on scheduling and restrictions. The Park Service also posted a press release.