Plowing to start Monday on Sun Road

Plows will go to work on Going-to-the-Sun Road starting Monday, and with a lack of snow at low elevations, the road is expected to be open to hikers and bikers much sooner than usual.

Glacier National Park public affairs officer Amy Vanderbilt said there are snow drifts and ice on Sun Road below the Loop - the hairpin turn that points Sun Road toward Logan Pass - but plows should make fast work of that.

"I think our crew anticipates that they will reach the Loop pretty quickly," Vanderbilt said. "Hiker biker season could very well begin in the next week."

For years now, hikers and bikers have had exclusive access to Sun Road from the Avalanche Campground area to the Loop in the spring, but it usually begin much later than the first week of April.

While Glacier's snowpack is still far below average this year, Vanderbilt said, there was 3.17 inches of precipitation above 6,000 feet during March, well above the 10-year average of 2.48 inches.

"Frankly, we've had 2-3 feet of snow above 6,000 feet in the last several weeks," Vanderbilt said. "About 20 percent of our annual snowpack has been received in the last two weeks."

But snow has been scarce at lower elevations all winter.

Vanderbilt said the Many Glacier Valley will be accessible to hikers and bikers within the next week, but the road to the Many Glacier Hotel will remain closed to vehicles at least through April.

After clearing the Many Glacier Road, plows will move on to the Chief Mountain Road and the road into the Two Medicine Valley.

On Sun Road, vehicles won't be able to travel beyond the Avalanche area for weeks to come. That's partly to allow for construction work that's planned at the West Side Tunnel and for safety concerns as plows work above the Loop.

The West Side Tunnel work, being carried out by the Morgen and Oswood construction company out of Great Falls, is expected to be finished this summer.

"So the more they can accomplish this spring, the better," Vanderbilt said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com