Not Going to the Sun

6/21/2019

Dan was our guide on Going to the Sun Road with Sun Tours. The van was 5 minutes late, then stopped for 30 minutes so people could explore the visitors center. We were not impressed. Had hoped to learn more about the Native American history of the area and heard more attempted puns than information about the environment and inhabitants.

The best part of the trip was a brief hike to the site of an old Chalet with magnificent views of the lake and mountains.

Beth was geared up for staying warm and finding wildlife.

Going to the Sun Road was only open to Jackson Glacier overlook which was shrouded in clouds. We could have driven this section with no problem. I expect the tour experience would be much different later in the season.

We reserved the tour because our van is just over the width limit for Going to the Sun Road plus it would allow us both to enjoy the view instead of worrying about driving.

Next time we will wait until the road is fully open and ride in one of the restored red bus “jammers" or take the park shuttle.

After the tour, we made lunch in the visitor center parking lot, then went to the 1913 Ranger station where we walked a loop of the Beaver Pond and Red Eagle trails.

This tree seemed to be watching us as we hiked through the pine forest. Here's a link to the trail map around St Marys.

Wildflowers abounded in the meadows along the trail.

We were lucky to only get a little drizzle on our two hour walk.

Returning to the visitors center we watched the park service movie and both came close to nodding off. Not ready to go back to the campground, we drove to the general store at Rising Sun where they had gifts, drinks, and essentials. Moved across the road to the picnic area thinking that might be a good spot to relax and make dinner, but the view was better from the General Store.

Coming out of the picnic area we noticed a traffic jam so drove back across to the store to see what was going on. Traffic jams in National Parks are usually due to wildlife sightings. This one was a bear jam!

After insuring we were parked out of the way, we were fortunate to find a young, brown colored, black bear foraging for food. We watched for about 30 minutes while he inspected an old tree stump and wandered around a small meadow across a stream from us.

All along the road there are places to pull out with spectacular views.

Backed into a space at Two Dog Flats overlook hoping to see some wildlife move out from the tree line into a large meadow while we prepared dinner.

Beth made delicious salmon and pesto rice noodles, but between the rain and steam on the windows, any wildlife would have passed by undetected. We had the overlook to ourselves for over an hour.

Returning to our campground the mountains disappeared and the rain made for another evening of streaming some TV shows under the thick comforter.

Here's one last photo from today.