Glacier Park navigates surge of visitors amid pandemic

Thursday morning’s rain showers did little to deter people from flocking to Glacier National Park, where by the early morning hours rangers had already started blocking off portions of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in order to avoid major vehicle and foot-traffic congestion.

And based on the variety of license plates in the Lake McDonald Lodge parking lot, people had traveled from near and far — ongoing pandemic aside — to explore the park. Vehicles displayed plates from states including Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Florida.

Shortly after 8:30 a.m. rangers had halted vehicle traffic to the Avalanche Lake Creek area. By a little after 9 a.m., cars couldn’t travel to the Lake McDonald Lodge area, either, meaning by that hour, people could either explore the Apgar Village area or head north to the Bowman Lake and Polebridge portion of the park.

“We didn’t expect it to be quite this chaotic,” said a man from Arizona who identified himself as Ryan. “We drove up here thinking we could at least explore the areas that aren’t shut down, but now we apparently can’t do that; there are so many people.”

Ryan added that it’s his family’s first time in Glacier and he’s “not sure if they’ll come back.” To them, dodging the crowds — particularly during a pandemic — was slightly overwhelming.

But those who have spent plenty of time in the park know big crowds are nothing new. And while it also isn’t necessarily surprising to see people from other states, and even other countries, this year the presence of out-of-state individuals feels a little unsettling to many as the COVID-19 pandemic still looms large over the United States.

“You look around and realize Montana plates are really outnumbered,” said a woman named Lauren, who lives in Kalispell. “I think people think ‘national park’ and they think ‘maybe I’ll be able to socially distance there.’ But when this place gets busy it’s hard to stay apart, even on trails, so it’s concerning to see people coming from really infected areas like Florida.”

At times on Thursday, traversing popular hiking trails felt a bit like a field trip. People were single-file and moving long as a one unit, with separate parties blending together. Occasionally, in an obvious effort to social distance, some families would cut far off of a trail in order to let others go by.

To the crowd’s credit, the majority of individuals wore masks in areas where it was difficult to social distance, such as in bathroom lines or in gift shops. And for the most part, people seemed to adjust willingly to temporary closures, although a handful expressed some degree of frustration.

One man said he was “going to attempt to drive to Avalanche anyways” after someone informed him in the Apgar Village parking lot that the road was temporarily blocked off.

SINCE THE west entrance of the park opened on June 8, Glacier National Park spokesperson Gina Kerzman said the park has only gone “a couple of days” without some sort of road closure. The days when there were no temporary shutdowns were “usually days of inclement weather,” she added.

As of Friday morning, the Going-to-the-Sun Road is only open to vehicular traffic as far as Avalanche Creek. According to the park’s website, it is not anticipated that vehicle access beyond Avalanche Creek will be available until after the Fourth of July weekend.

The park has attempted to keep up with any temporary closures on its social media platforms. Officials have relied on Twitter to inform tourists when parts of the park are closed and when those restrictions have been lifted, but Kerzman said they haven’t been able to post about every closure.

According to one park ranger who was helping direct traffic on Thursday, the temporary shutdowns have usually started in the early morning hours and will remain in place until the early afternoon. She said at Avalanche Creek area — one of the busiest spots in Glacier — they have been trying to stop incoming traffic when the lot reaches 35% capacity so trail and parking lot overcrowding doesn’t occur.

However, many people have opted to park at the Lake McDonald Lodge and walk the extra five or so miles to the Avalanche trailhead anyway.

This congestion in Glacier is something officials had voiced concerns about early on when people, local businesses and other stakeholders were pushing for the park to reopen. The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce had at one point submitted a letter to Montana state officials, local law enforcement and Glacier Park leadership saying local businesses would suffer greatly if the park didn’t open. The letter was signed by hundreds of business owners and organization leaders in the Flathead Valley.

Shortly after the letter was sent, Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow announced the park would be reopening, but did emphasize that “things would look a lot different than previous years.” He also told the Daily Inter Lake that portions of the park would only reopen if they could be adequately staffed and if practices such as frequent sanitation of bathrooms could occur.

According to Mow, business owners had asked that the Going-to-the-Sun Road be open to vehicular traffic as far as Logan Pass. This has yet to occur, but when it does, Kerzman said closures at the pass are likely to occur as well. If visitors wish, they can currently walk or bike the Going-to-the-Sun Road as far as they would like “at their own risk,” including to Logan Pass.

AS VISITORS pour into the park for the Fourth of July weekend, a time that usually jump-starts the busiest stretch of the tourist season, stakeholders caution that people should consider avoiding crowded areas.

In a recent press release, the Flathead City-County Health Department urged community members to “be diligent in their efforts to help prevent the spread of COVID-19” and to practice prevention measures as the community rounds into the holiday weekend.

“We urge you to think critically about the events you attend,” said Hillary Hanson, health officer of the Flathead City-County health Department. “If gatherings are not abiding by social distancing or hygiene practices, consider leaving or altering your plans. We need to make smart decisions for ourselves, for our families, and for our community.”

As of Friday morning, Flathead County had reported 62 cumulative cases of COVID-19 and Glacier County had reported 22. Although there was a drop-off in new daily cases for most of April and May, cases began to climb once again in early June, around the time Glacier National Park opened its gates. On July 1, Montana announced 67 new positives statewide — the largest daily uptick in cases since the outbreak began in early March.

According to the Flathead City-County Health Department’s website, 24 of the Flathead’s cases came from those individuals making contact with another positive, 22 are from an “unknown source” and 16 are associated with travel.

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com