Assault on Big Drift under way

The Daily Inter Lake

Glacier National Park plow crews have launched their annual assault on the Big Drift, the final obstacle in the snow-clearing effort on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Plows cut through an average snow depth of 25 feet in the Logan Pass area just to reach the drift, a wind-formed snow slope just east of the pass that is an estimated 50 feet deep this year.

On Wedneday, dozers made the initial "pioneering" cuts into the drift from the east and west. The east-side plow crew, however, had to back off after enountering a gap between the snow and a roadside cliff that was large enough to swallow a dozer.

Although the Big Drift is the final milestone in the quest to open Sun Road at Logan Pass, the actual opening typically takes several more days. Crews have to clear snow from around the Logan Pass Visitor Center and parking lot, while signs and guardrails are installed and cleanup continues on lower sections of the road.