Rain delays west opening of Sun Road

The Daily Inter Lake

Heavy rain has littered Glacier National Park's Going-to-the-Sun Road with tons of debris, delaying a west-side opening to Logan Pass that was planned for this weekend.

The prolonged Tuesday night rainstorm caused as many as 10 rock slides or mud slides, along with clogged culverts that forced runoff over the road's surface. Slides were prevalent in the alpine stretch west of the of the pass in areas such as Logan Creek, the Weeping Wall and Lower Haystack.

"Prior to the storm, road crews had been completing the final road preparations and officials expected that the entire 50-mile Sun Road would be open for the weekend," according to a park press release Wednesday. "With the present road conditions and the forecast for additional rain, no projection can be made for opening this final section."

Melissa Wilson, Glacier's public affairs officer, said the park has no rain gauge at Logan Pass, but .53 inches of rain fell Tuesday night at West Glacier.

As the cleanup progresses this week, park officials will provide updates on the projected west-side opening.

Vehicle access to Logan Pass was opened Saturday to vehicles on the east side of the park. That stretch of road remains open.

Otherwise, damage from the storm was minimal in the Flathead Valley. The storm activated some alarm systems, no serious problems related to wind or lightning strikes occurred.

Status reports about Sun Road and other park roads is available at 1-800-226-7623 or on the Internet at:

http://www.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm