Plows begin park snow job

Glacier National Park snow plows started churning their way through snow on Going-to-the-Sun Road this week.

Plows on the west side reached just beyond the Avalanche Creek area to the Red Rock slide.

Plows encountered 12 to 30 inches of snow on their path from Lake McDonald Lodge.

The road surface from the lodge to Avalanche remains covered with 2 to 6 inches of ice, while Camas and Fish Creek roads have 1 to 4 inches of ice.

The earliest possible opening of Going-to-Sun Road in its entirety would be June 15, weather and road conditions dependent, due to road rehabilitation work.

On the east side of Glacier, plows are working in the Many Glacier Valley and have encountered snow drifts of up to 10 feet.

Many Glacier Road will not open to the public until the third week of April at the earliest due to wildlife concerns, according to Glacier public affairs officer Denise Germann.