We are up at 5:45, make the drive east on US 2, and are parked in front of Glacier Lodge (aka Big Tree Lodge) by 8:20AM. There is plenty of time to relax in the sun on their porch before our 9AM departure. It is a beautiful day. The air is cool this morning but the sun brilliantly warm. More and more folks are milling on the porch. Looks like it’s going to be a full bus. Before long a bus, then a second bus, show up in the lower lot. Ah, two heading out at nine. The drivers have lists and divide up the group. We go with ‘Jammer Todd’ and get assigned to a comfy middle row on bus 79. Biggest guy rides shotgun and short-legged groups get the backseat. We are pretty happy with our deal. Todd is a fun host for the duration. He talks quite a bit but keeps it interesting and makes some maybe slightly off the normal plan stops – we don’t get back til 6PM vs the planned 5PM return. We learn about the bus; originals were built by White with bodies built of oak clad with metal (doors still are originals – riders are not to open or close them). Current chassis and engines were rebuilt and sport Ford engines – originally gas or propane now all run only on gas. There is a prototype electric one being trialed, not on the tour circuit here yet. We learn about the Amtrak station and the lodge, Built by Great Northern Railroad using huge pines hauled in from Oregon by train. It is cool looking – slight disappointment learning that the great columns in the lobby nowadays are some sort of posts clad in pine bark.
On to the real ride. We circle around the south side of the park on US 2. Todd relates stories and points out mountain vistas at stops along the way. We pass Chief Calfcoat Mountain and hear Blackfoot stories as related by Todd. At Goat Lick we stop to stretch our legs and look for goats (no luck today either). Before long we make the turn onto Going to the Sun Road. We stop near Apgar Campground to stroll among cedar trees and learn of the microclimate here that supports them and why they are frequently found growing in straight lines – it’s all about nursery logs. We bump through the construction zone to McDonald Lodge by noon where we enjoy our picnic lunch by the lake. There is a stop along McDonald Creek, views of the Continental Divide arête and its missing tooth, we pass the weeping rock wall of waterfalls, and take a stroll at Sun Point to overlook St Mary Lake. Along the way we get a nice look at an impressive big horn sheep but he is there and then gone so fast we don’t get a picture. We are back an hour late but worth every minute. It has been a great no stress way to see the park.
We relax in the lounge at Glacier Inn for a few then make our way back to Apgar after a full day. We are just putting our feet up when a low rumble starts. The Going to the Sun paving crew is just outside of the campground and the equipment literally makes the ground vibrate. As we head off to bed the rumble is becoming fainter as they move on down the road away from us.