best glacier np hikes?

[Iowagriz]

West side road only open to Avalanche as of today. Bikes can go to the top. I don't think east side is is open yet.

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[GoldMember]

Not currently. Looks like you can drive to the Visitor Center when road crews aren't working.

https://www.nps.gov/applications/gla...roadstatus.cfm

[RootSkier]

The Blackfeet Nation announced last night that all east side entrances to the park on its land are closed for the year. That includes Saint Mary (i.e. Going to the Sun Road), Many Glacier, Two Medicine, Chief Mountain, etc. I wonder of the St. Mary NPS campground will be open...probably be pretty quiet over there this year.

[splat]

Holy shit. That's huge. Damn. No going to the St. Mary's Lodge for coffee in the AM??? The ranger station is right behind the lodge, with dorms and all kinds of support facilities there for the east side. Wonder where the park ends and the res begins... that's kind of a blurry line in East, kinda obvious at Babb. Wow. What a great year it would be to stay at the Many Glacier Hotel.

[RootSkier]

I am guessing Many Glacier might be completely shut down except for the NPS Rangers. Here is a map of the reservation boundaries. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bl...4d-112.9175826

I am friends with the family that owns the St. Mary's KOA. Guess they are going to have a different summer than usual.

[tetzen]

Isn't there some type of interstate agreement that the state highways transversing the reservation have to remain open to non-residents across the reservation? Seems like a somewhat legally dubious action to close the entrances to reservation if people are just traversing to points outside it. Although, I completely understand the reservation's desire to keep the disease out.

[RootSkier]

Maybe, but I think there are a few issues.

1. Is the Blackfeet Nation subject to that sort of interstate agreement?

2. I don't think any of the roads--with the exception of the highway leading to Chief Mountain trailhead (right next to the border station)--leading from the actual highways into the park are interstate or even state highways. They are more in the nature of county roads, which are generally under the jurisdiction of the county, or here, the Blackfeet Nation. For example, look at the map and tell me how you get from Babb to Many Glacier without traveling on a road that is presumably owned and controlled by the tribe. And even at Chief Mountain, the border crossing is totally closed right now.

3. The Crow Reservation was restricting travel across its lands for any non-essential travel earlier this spring. Not sure where they are at right now. https://billingsgazette.com/news/loc...0de6830cc.html

All that said, nothing I have seen suggests they are actually closing the highways themselves; just the roads leading into the Park that cross the rez.

Edit to say this is undoubtedly the right call for the Blackfeet Nation. They really do not need a mass pandemic in Browning brought on by the covidtourists.

[RootSkier]

Fuck. Now all I can think about is backpacking in the Park:



First guy to guide the 7 summits:

[Jumper Bones]

It is the right call, certainly. But stopping in Browning was already unpleasant, could you imagine it now?

Unfortunately, all roads to the east side of the park route through Browning. Same with Hwy 2 across the High Line.

Highline Trail was supposed to be super cool, Logan Pass into Many Glacier, but with no shuttle service and the east entrances closed that's a no-go...unless you do it out and back obviously. I never did the whole thing, just bits at each end, but it was awesome.

[RootSkier]

It is the right call, certainly. But stopping in Browning was already unpleasant, could you imagine it now?

Unfortunately, all roads to the east side of the park route through Browning. Same with Hwy 2 across the High Line.

Nah, you don't ever need to go to Browning to get anywhere on the east side, at least in the summer. You can take 49 from East Glacier Village and bypass it. That drive is one of the most spectacular in the state, too.

[Jumper Bones]

No I'm saying you go through it. Obviously nothing forces you to stop.

I usually turned right at the teepees and headed up Duck Lake road to avoid town.

[senior researcher]

Leadership. Kintla to Belly River, then back.

[RootSkier]

[QUOTE=Jumper Bones;6013975]No I'm saying you go through it. Obviously nothing forces you to stop]

I've been everywhere on the east side and never even driven through Browning.

[Jumper Bones]

Lived in Great Falls. I was coming from the east side already.

I can post a map...

[splat]

It is the right call, certainly. But stopping in Browning was already unpleasant, could you imagine it now?

Unfortunately, all roads to the east side of the park route through Browning. Same with Hwy 2 across the High Line.

Fucking Charlie Tailfeather tried to scalp me in Browning because I wouldn't drink whiskey with him.

It does kinda blow.

The only place I've ever seen many Indians on the east side was in the Babb bar and those were usually the Bloods who came down from Canada to drink on Sundays. Don't know if the Babb bar is still open but there used to be a running count of the bullet holes in the ceiling. Now there's a weed company operating out of Babb.

Funny this thread popped up. I was shuffling through a drawer of clutter last week, found this shot and set it on my desk.

[nateski]

anybody been in the park this summer? whats it like?

[RootSkier]

anybody been in the park this summer? whats it like?

I follow the Park on Twitter and every single day they repeatedly tweet that traffic is halted at the foot of Lake McDonald because there is no parking at Logan Pass or anywhere else.

[yeahman]

Holy shit, the social media posts I've been seeing from friends who live in the Flathead are crazy and depressing. All kinds of idiots visiting who would never otherwise probably go to Glacier. People backcountry camping in places where it's not allowed and they have no permits, people hiking with dogs (not allowed), crazy parking situations, litter, etc. All probably exacerbated by the fact that the east side access is still closed. Some locals are calling for the park to be shut down again. Anyway, it sucks but there's a special class of idiot traveling to Montana this summer, those who looked at a COVID map and decided this was a "safe" place to be.

[/rant]