We took a Sun Tours trip to Logan Pass today and really enjoyed it. We had tried to take the park shuttle to the pass and gave up. The shuttles were so crowded with not even standing room left and the wait lines were long to get back. We decided since our truck couldn't go up to the pass, that we'd take a tour with Red Bus or Sun Tours. We were able to get on the Sun Tour bus and were glad of it. We met Red Bus tour buses at a couple of stops along the way. The top was open and the people were complaining of getting sun burned. They also sit 4 or 5 people across and it looked really uncomfortable. We had lots of leg room and air conditioning and we needed it today.
Our first stop was at McDonald Creek which feeds into Lake McDonald (seen in the distance).
McDonald Falls is just upstream from the bridge
We met this Red Bus on the bridge over the McDonald Creek.
Our second stop was a McDonald Creek overlook just below these falls.
This glassy pool is below the falls.
These shots are from one of the numerous turnout viewpoints along the Going To The Sun Road. This one is just up the road from the weeping wall.
These shots are from a turnout a little further up the mountain.
A seasonal falls is still running a lot of water for July.
These shots were taken from the last stop we made before Logan Pass. We're in the nose-bleed section.
A Marmot
Yes, that's snow on the mountain in late July!
Look at all the snow yet along the side of the road as we neared Logan Pass
We have arrived at Logan Pass, elevation 6,646 feet above sea level.
There were just mobs of people up here and the parking lot was just totally full. Lots of the people standing in front of the Visitor Center were waiting for another shuttle to get down the mountain. It was quite a wait today.
This is the Visitor Center's backyard. Amazing view!
The last time we were here (2007), we wanted to get a picture of a pika and didn't see a one although we did see mountain goats and big horn sheep. This time we saw a lot of pikas but none of the other animals at Logan Pass.
We had 45 minutes at the Pass which is definitely not long enough but the trails were so crowded that it wouldn't have made a difference anyway in seeing any wildlife. So, we got back on our bus and headed back down the mountain.
Although we didn't see any goats at Logan Pass itself, we finally saw one as we were leaving the pass. This guy was over the top of our heads in the bus. Our driver came to a stop so we could get a picture of him.
We saw some crazy people getting their picture taken under this mountain of snow. The bus driver said that if it fell which it could at any time, they would be crushed under the weight of it. People are so nuts! You can see some feet under the snow pile if you look hard.
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