Glacier Park getting back to normal
<p>One of the famous red buses makes its way though Glacier National Park recently.</p>
While Glacier National Park personnel continue to keep an eye out for flood-related problems, some parts of the park are reopening after being closed by the heavy rain that doused the region earlier this week.
The St. Mary Campground was closed but is now open with limited camp sites available.
The Waterton Shoreline Cruise Co. has resumed tours on Waterton Lake to Glacier Park’s Goat Haunt, where the dock was damaged due to high water.
It is expected that Kintla Lake will be accessible this weekend. The road leading there was closed at the head of Big Prairie due to high water.
Plow crews are expected to renew their efforts on Going-to-the-Sun Road starting Sunday. The road was hammered by avalanches in the Haystack and Alps areas, where replowing will be necessary to get back to work at Logan Pass.
Vehicles can go as far as Jackson Glacier Overlook east of Logan Pass, but hikers and bikers cannot travel beyond that point due to road construction.
On the west side of the park, vehicles can go as far as Avalanche, and from there, access is unlimited for hikers and bikers over the weekend.
Outside the park, the Flathead River has been flowing just below its minor flood stage of 13 feet, and flows are projected to taper off slowly through next week.
According to the Great Falls Tribune, there have been some flooding problems on the Blackfeet Reservation. Montana 49 has been closed between Two Medicine Lake and the Kiowa Campgrounds west of Browning because of mudslides.
Tribal officials have been concerned about St. Mary Lake, which has risen to a point where water has been lapping at buildings at Chewing Blackbones Campground. There are also concerns about the Milk River, which has been exceeding its banks and flowing onto U.S. 89 south of St. Mary.
The high water could continue as warmer weather accelerates snow melt from Glacier Park’s higher elevations.
The St. Mary River dropped below flood stage Friday afternoon. The Marias River, which had been flowing well above flood stage at Shelby, had dropped more than a foot on Friday and was expected to go below flood stage today.
Weather is expected to be more summer-like in Glacier Park this weekend.
For today (the first day of summer), the National Weather Service predicts mostly sunny weather and a high temperature of 73 degrees in West Glacier.
Sunday’s high is forecast to be 78 degrees with a slight chance of showers.