Sun Road: a slightly ancient wonder
Inter Lake editorial
Going-to-the-Sun Road is commonly referred to as an engineering marvel, but to appreciate the truth in the description one needs to consider that the road is still intact 75 years after it was dedicated.
It's a wonder that the road's alpine section still clings to the sheer slopes leading to Logan Pass. It is literally pounded by the elements - water, rocks, avalanches - along with the summer rush of vehicles and people. Yet it endures.
No question about it, Glacier would be a completely different and far less accessible park without the bisecting transportation artery that delivers people to breathtaking places they might otherwise never see.
Millions of people have driven toward the Sun, finding the Weeping Wall, the Garden Wall, Bird Woman Falls, Mount Oberlin, Hidden Lake, Mount Siyeh, St. Mary Lake and Rising Sun along the way.
We are fortunate that the park's first superintendent, William R. Logan, had the vision and found the political backing to get work started on the road early in the park's history. It must have seemed a nearly impossible task at the time, but it became possible with an incredible collection of effort - surveyors dangling from ropes, construction crews using the crudest forms of heavy equipment, and of course the political prowess of many state, local and federal officials.
That is why it is important that modern political leaders, the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration have found the will and a way to invest in maintaining the road. Glacier Park is entering a second year of a long-term, comprehensive reconstruction of Sun Road after more than 75 years of mere patchwork maintenance on the most vulnerable stretches of the 50-mile historic highway.
Sun Road is a marvel not to be forgotten or neglected. It should be celebrated and that's exactly what will happen this coming Friday, with events commemorating the original dedication ceremony that was held before 4,000 people on Logan Pass 75 years ago.