Logan Pass section still limited to hikers, bikers

Going-to-the-Sun Road beyond Avalanche will remain open only to hikers and bicyclists this weekend in Glacier National Park, with no opening date set for vehicles to be allowed to travel to Logan Pass.

Katie Liming, assistant public affairs officer, said Thursday that the opening day for west-side motorists is unknown and would be weather-dependent.

During weekday work hours, plow crews are still working from the east and west sides of the Big Drift, while other park employees continue clearing the Logan Pass parking lot and installing the last of the 400 removable guardrails along the high-altitude road.

Earlier in the week, park spokeswoman Denise Germann said that heavy rains had not created more rockslides than usual along the road, although the weather forced crews to stop working temporarily because visibility suffered.

A bigger setback has been the destruction of about 170 feet of stone wall that lines the road. During a meeting in Columbia Falls Wednesday night, park landscape architect Jack Gordon said most of the damaged masonry had been hit by avalanches this past winter near Dead Horse Point and the Golden Staircase.

“They just vaporized, you can’t even see the rocks,” Gordon said.

The park is still determining a fix, including the possibility of replacing the masonry with more removable guardrails. Gordon said that a couple of sections of the road have avalanche-proof rock walls, developed at the park years ago, but cost about a million dollars per section.

The full length of Going-to-the-Sun Road between West Glacier and St. Mary won’t open until June 19 at the earliest due to construction on the east side of Logan Pass.

More information on park access can be found on the park’s website at http://www.nps.gov.glac/index.htm.