Our first day at the campground in St. Mary’s was very low key. It rained all night long and continued raining all the next day. The rain was definitely more than sprinkling, but not quite pouring. We didn’t really feel like hiking in the rain, so we just hung out in the camper all day, napping and reading. When we looked outside, we couldn’t even see the mountains that we knew were there so figured driving on the Going-to-the-Sun road could wait until the following day.
It was pretty chilly both nights that we camped at St.Mary’s. Thank goodness for the heater in the camper. We were nice and toasty!
The rain finally stopped during the second night there and we woke up to a little fog that burned off as the sun rose. Beautiful mountains in 2 directions!
We sat outside in the sunshine for awhile and went exploring the Going-to-the-Sun road around mid-day. One reason that we chose the St. Mary’s area is because there isn’t timed entry like the other entrances have.
The drive was breathtaking! The east side half of the road is not as scary (meaning hairpin turns and no shoulder) as the west side half that we did in 2019, but had just as awe inspiring vistas.
Well, we made it to the Logan Pass Visitor Center where we were planning to stop and learn about the area and hike around a little bit. The parking lot was full and blocked off. Cars were making their own questionable parking spots on the sides of the road in both directions. Jeff had to keep driving another 5 miles at least before he could get to a turn out that had an opening so he could pull in and turn around. Additionally, there were people walking on the sides of the roads all over near the visitor centers, some of asking on the little stone walls that keep cars from driving off the mountain. We get what they have resorted to timed entries, and think St. Mary entrance will have it in the next year or two also.
As we were driving, we got stopped in an “animal jam”. It is our first grizzly bear sighting! We got a picture as we slowly drove by. A minute later there was a mountain goat that crossed the road. It’s not a popular National Park visit if you don’t get into an “animal jam”!
We decided to go back to the campsite and come back after the peak time is done. We were told that it is less busy after 4, so we went back at 5 and the drive was almost as busy, but the views looked completely different due to the sun being in a different part of the sky. We got in the parking lot of the visitor center at top this time, drove around for 30 minutes and still couldn’t get a spot. So we gave up and drove down with some stops for pictures.
We ate at an outdoor Mexican restaurant and listened to a singer/guitar player that was performing. It was perfect weather and a fun family dinner!
I took lots of wildflower pictures at the campground and also in the Park. I love all the plant diversity as we travel through all the different environments.
Kline Road Trips 