Pass won't open this weekend

Glacier National Park plow crews are closing in on Logan Pass, but they still have a good week of work ahead of them. As of presstime, crews on the west side of the Going-to-the-Sun Road were just below Logan Pass near Rimrocks.

On the east side, plow crews were at the base of the Big Drift, a huge snowdrift just east of Logan Pass that can reach 100 feet deep. Cutting through the Big Drift and clearing the Logan Pass parking lot usually takes several days. Plow crews are working five 10-hour days per week.

Construction contractors are paving the lower section of the road from the Logan Pit area to the West Side Tunnel. Until the paving is done, access to the high country won't be allowed from the west side.

Once the paving is complete, more motorized access will be allowed in the high country, Park officials said.

In years past when Logan Pass was still socked in with snow, the Park opened the road to Big Bend, about three miles west of the pass. This year, plows have been hampered by a record snowpack and continued heavy snows well into May.

The latest opening of the entire length of the Sun Road was July 10 in 1943. The road opened July 2 in 2008 and on July 1 in 2007. The 2007 delay was caused by flood damage that occurred in 2006 and had to be repaired before the road completely opened.

Currently, the Sun Road is open for vehicles to Avalanche Creek on the west side and to Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east side,

Most other Park roads are open, with the exception of the Quarter Circle Bridge road, which is flooded, and a section of the Inside North Fork Road from Logging Creek to Fish Creek because of high-water damage.