Going to the Sun Road, Again! (S24: Part 14)

A location where clouds, a goat, a bus, and water reflections reign supreme.

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We continued on our second drive east on Going to the Sun Road towards Logan Pass.

The clouds kept rolling over the mountains - this is Mount Oberlin (8,760 ft) shrouded.

See Going to the Sun Road cutting through the center of the right side of the image. That should give you a little bit of context of how large the mountains are compared to the teeny, tiny road (which isn’t teeny tiny).

A close up shot of Mount Cannon (8,924 ft) covered in clouds.

I didn't want to stop at Logan Pass again, but Adam pointed out that we hadn't explored the other side yet while also pointing out two mountain goats climbing down the mountainside. We got out of the car and started a little walk along the raised metal footbridge. We met the mountain goats in the middle of the footbridge which was a surprise. I had never been this close to one before.

It wouldn’t willingly come near us (duh), but you could tell it wasn't afraid of us.

If not friend, why friend-shaped?

Similar to Yellowstone and its yellow bus tours, Glacier National Park has their own red bus tours. I loved the shape of these vintage 1930s buses! Fun fact: these buses are considered the oldest touring fleet of vehicles anywhere in the world. This was a telephoto shot of the bus on Going to the Sun Road from the metal footbridge trail.

I took the same picture on our first drive but loved how the light appeared in a black and white edit instead.

We couldn't spend all day on the road because we had an afternoon boat ride on St. Mary Lake. I took my camera, but clouds rolled in, dulling the evening light.

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When we originally planned this trip, we were going to drive to South Dakota and visit Badlands National Park. Adam and I hadn't been there since our first vacation together in 2004. But then, about a week before we left, Adam changed his mind. We didn't have reservations for camping extra days at Glacier, so we tried to figure out what to do. So, on this next day, we decided to drive to Bowman Lake and hope for camping availability. It was the 4th of July, so we weren't sure if we would find camping in a national park. We knew the earlier we got there, the better.

Despite a cool, on-and-off rainy morning, we got an early start across Going to the Sun Road.

Even though we drove by Wild Goose Island Lookout four previous times, we didn’t stop until our third drive on Going to the Sun Road.

The morning was still, so the reflections were beautiful. This would have made for a great meditation spot, except for the ten other people photographing this view with us.

No rainbow this time, but the lack of wind led to glassy water.

The view from Jackson Glacier Overlook. This is considered the best view of a glacier in the national park because you don’t have to hike - you just have to pull over your car.

We didn't have plans to stop at any of the same pull-offs because we’d already seen these views twice. But then we were above the clouds in the river valley, so I wanted to stop at all overlooks. We didn't have time, but I lucked out because we were early enough that there weren’t too many people on the road. This allowed Adam to drive slowly while I took photos out the window.

Why such a harsh sepia edit? Why NOT? R to L: Pollock Mountain (9,167 ft), Bishop’s Cap (9,094 ft), and Mount Gould (9,554 ft).

This angle was really lovely, but there were no pull-offs. I had to take this shot through the front windshield, hence the weird blue tint.

My favorite of the day. This was so, so beautiful in person, and I felt lucky to experience driving above the clouds.

We did plan for a short stop at Lake MacDonald because we hadn't seen it yet. I'm glad we did because we dropped below the clouds to some blue skies. Because it was early, and the wind hadn’t picked up, the water was absolutely still.

Just the very top of Mount Vaught (8,825 ft) peeking out of the clouds. All of the other mountains are completely covered.

I wish we had more time on the east side of the park because we missed out on some incredible hikes. However, next time. There will definitely be a next time!

Cheers.

Previous links to my summer vacation newsletter, parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.