Going to the Sun road...

It's been a few years now, but my dad grew up in Montana, and most of his 8 siblings stayed either there or further west in WA, or OR. Starting in the early 50's they would have a family reunion faithfully every two years, most of which were in Montana, with an occasional outlier in Seattle, or Sea Side, OR, or MN where my parents settled in.

Whenever they were out west, we would usually make sure to take in either Glacier, or Yellowstone or both, and Going to the Sun Road was frequently the highlight of our summer travels (if it was open) before or after the reunion.

Even though the last of the siblings passed in the early 2010's the reunions continued for nearly 70 yrs thanks to a few dedicated 1st cousins, until the pandemic., but after that, as the cousins aged, and the 2nd cousins were less enthusiastic about maintaining the long distance family connections, we haven't had one now for about 4yrs, and none being discussed at this point. But the memories of those trips are still vivid in my minds eye, and hopefully I'll get back there again to refresh them.
 
We took the train one year with the kids from Socal to ND to see the grandparents and got off at West Glacier to stay overnight, rented a car to drive around, drive over and back.

Its really something you should do once at least if you want to visit the magnificent Cathedrals of the American West national parks.

Iirc there is a size limit on RVs and towed trailers on some sections
And reservations go fast on campgrounds, but check just outside the park if you cant get a spot inside.

Someone here was going soon and might be up to comment if pinged...
@gregangsten

Search back thru archives for more.
 
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...and right now it is closed due to flooding.
In two weeks we have reservations in the lodge for a couple nights and then a few nights in the trailer before heading to Canada.
 
We took the train one year with the kids from Socal to ND to see the grandparents and got off at West Glacier to stay overnight, rented a car to drive around, drive over and back.

Its really something you should do once at least if you want to visit the magnificent Cathedrals of the American West national parks.

Iirc there is a size limit on RVs and towed trailers on some sections
And reservations go fast on campgrounds, but check just outside the park if you cant get a spot inside.

Someone here was going soon and might be up to comment if pinged...
@gregangsten

Search back thru archives for more.
Highly recommend west koa. Just got back.5 mins from the park
 
I’ve ridden my bicycle across it a couple of times. It is breathtaking! The views and the climb! But honestly the harder part was the descent. Had to stop regularly to let the disc brakes cool. They were sizzling.
I always look at the descent before deciding if I can do the climbing. I’m not a daredevil at all & I’m still on clinchers. I’ve done some pretty hairy ones in the Carolinas.

I’ve driven up the from St Mary’s on the east side & back down. We did go part way down the west side but not all the way. Which way is the trickier to descend?
 
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