By traveler 
And thus began two days of marathon driving, over 1100 miles from Minneapolis to the eastern entrance to Glacier National Park. I’ve driven distances like this before, but I was trying to beat a strong winter storm that was forecast to approach from the west by Wednesday. If I met my schedule of arriving by Monday afternoon, I would have about a day and a half to enjoy the park.
Interstates took me from Minneapolis into Montana, primarily via I94 through North Dakota. The interstate actually cuts through the south portion of another national park, Theodore Roosevelt NP. I didn’t stop since I had already visited the park less than a year before (see http://singin1.com/a-quick-trip-theodore-roosevelt-np-day-two/). This was also not my first visit to Montana, having driving through initially ten years earlier during my first Goin’ West trip.
The scenery was glorious, and I hadn’t even reached the park yet. I posted a few pictures, including a funny road sign, below:
I entered the St. Mary Entrance of Glacier just before noon. It was a glorious day and a stunning view. After getting pictures of the park sign, with some taken by a person so I could be pictured as proof that I had FINALLY gotten there. As usual, my first stop was the visitor’s center. Unfortunately, it was closed until Friday while the rangers prepped it to receive the many guests expected that weekend. I knew that an avalanche had forced the close of middle portion of the park’s major scenic road, so if I wanted to drive the eastern third of Going-to-the-Sun Road, I had the option of doing so then or waiting until my expected return on Wednesday to do so. Exhaustion–and the knowledge that I would have the long drive around the southern portion of the park to get to my hotel on the west side–pretty much forced my decision to wait.
The pictures that follow are from my time at St. Mary and on the road around the southern area:
I’m not sure how your browser will display these pictures, but they and the others I took are loaded at http://singin1.com/piwigo/index.php?/category/Glacier-and-Yellowstone-NPs-May-2024-Day-1.
My check-in to the hotel was an adventure that I might chronicle on Tripadvisor, but I will only say here that I found it to be the last thing I wanted to experience as tired as I was. When I finally got to bed, I pretty much passed out.