Thursday, July 9, 2020

Notes From All Over -- The "Montana Update" Edition -- July 9, 2020

Most snow in 30 years means it could be months before plowing is finished -- allowing access to "Going-to-the-Sun Road." Link here.  May 4, 2020.
Thanks to the most snow in 30 years it could be months before Glacier National Park’s famed Going-to-the-Sun Road is fully cleared by plowing and open to traffic. As plows move up the road, avalanche forecasters and technicians are monitoring the snowpack for possible avalanches to provide for crew safety and are warning visitors hiking or biking up the historic roadway to be alert to the possibility of avalanches, which are common in spring during periods of intense or prolonged warmups. 
Snow crews reach Logan Pass June 12, 2020, eighteen days later (May 25, 2019), than they did last year. Reaching Logan Pass
  • this year, 2020: June 12
  • 2019: May 25
  • 2018: June 22
  • 2017: June 28
The plow crews clearing Glacier National Park have reached Logan Pass and are starting to clear the Big Drift, an area in northern Montana where massive amounts of snow accumulate, officials said.
The stretch of Going-to-the-Sun road is often buried under 80-feet of snow and is the biggest challenge of the months-long clearing operation.

6 comments:

  1. For readers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismay,_Montana.

    I've been close, very close, without realizing it, but I have never visited Ismay (Joe) Montana ... but I've been in Bowman, Rhame, and Marmarth (ND) and Baker, MT, but not to Plevna or Ismay. LOL. I've also been to Miles City, MT (many times) -- my hunch is this is great bird hunting country.

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  2. And I think South Dakota got its share of the rich and famous, and not so famous, during pheasant season.

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  3. Interesting, but I think a few more things may be going on here. Glacier Park is has been closed and is just now doing a partial opening;so no big incentive to plow Going-to-the-Sun Road with the usual diligence. Also the Blackfeet Tribe at the eastern entrance to the park has announced that it will not allow "non-essential" travel through its reservation due to Covid-19, ---- so travellers will be unable to go through the Park but will have to return to the entrance at West Glacier---so again no reason to expedite snow removal on the highway----- let Nature do it.

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    1. Thank you. What got my attention was "the most snow in 30 years" although what got most folks' attention: the clearing of the road.

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  4. The Blackfoot tribe dies not affect entrance to the park from either side. Browning MT is only a way point traveling thru the area
    MT hiway dept starts the road clearing about the same time.every year.
    Tribes decisions in re:Covid has more effect on travel south of the park than through the park

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    1. https://flatheadbeacon.com/2020/06/25/blackfeet-tribe-closes-eastern-border-glacier-park/. Unless I missed it, US Highway 2 was not mentioned and that's the route through the park that counts, coming from the east. I doubt US Highway 2 is going to be closed off.

      Agree. Another story with little impact. I remember driving that area years ago, east of the park just to check it out: Similar to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Very few tourists, very desolate, and it takes all day to get there to see mostly nothing. For tourists visiting Glacier Park, this "closure" is a non-story.

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