Going-to-the-Sun gets a different look

ST. MARY – The view is much different now along parts of an eight-mile section of one the country’s most scenic roads through Glacier National Park after a wildfire roared across and along it, chasing visitors from the park a week-and-a-half ago.

The change is not necessarily bad, said fire officials, who gave media members a sneak preview of the still-closed-to-the-public, east-side park entrance Thursday.

Just different.

More open areas and dead black trees line the road. The result, in some cases, is better views of St. Mary Lake and points of interest on its far side.

“I think there’s going to be surprise by the view they see,” Thomas Kempton, a fire information officer with Greg Poncin’s Type I incident management team, said of the public’s likely response.

“In no way is the park destroyed,” added Kempton, noting that the 3,100-acre fire is within a 1.1-million-acre national park.

With the fire burning through thick forest in some areas, new views of St. Mary Lake have opened up for visitors, said Kempton, pointing out a waterfall across St. Mary Lake now visible from Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Reggie Day, operations section chief for Poncin’s Type I team, compared the change to opening a window.

No question, the replacement of entire stands of mature trees with black snags in some areas is different.

“The whole area’s not black,” Day pointed out.

The fire burned a narrow area but left behind green trees and vegetation in some spots.

“The fire burned in a real mosaic,” Kempton said.

Chutes of grass and other vegetation already is beginning to appear, Day said.

Animals haven’t fled the area.

“We’ve seen a ton of bears in the black,” said Day, referring to areas charred by fire.

One tiny black bear, around 50 pounds, has been returning every day. One day it began chewing through a suction pump by the lake.

“He’s running all around by himself,” Day said.

The 50-mile road connects the west and east entrances of Glacier, and runs through the heart of its wild interior. The engineering marvel runs winds around mountains and through forested areas.

The Reynolds Creek Fire has closed the eastern entrance to the park here, but firefighters continue to make good progress in containing the blaze to around 3,100 acres, Day said.

The media tour was the first time anybody from the public had been allowed to travel the road since the fire erupted July 21 and quickly grew, forcing evacuations of motorists on the road, hikers and those staying at campgrounds.

As of Thursday, the fire was 63 percent contained. The heel of the blaze, or the area of its origin, is near the junction of the St. Mary River and Reynolds Creek. Earlier this week officials said they believe the fire was caused by people.

On the west side of the park, access to as far as Logan Pass was opened Monday.

“It’s pretty obvious why it’s not ready for campers right now,” Sandy Nelson, another fire information officer, said at Rising Sun Motor Inn on the east side.

Smoke billowed on a ridge behind the general store at the inn. Helicopters dropped water on the hot spots, where flames occasionally erupted. Sprinklers flicked water on vegetation around the general store.

Smoke and fire on the east side of Going-to-the-Sun Road are not visible on the west side, said Mark Struble, a fire information officer from Carson City, Nev.

“You’ve got to get down here to really see it,” Struble said.

Struble has been surprised by how much green remains in the fire perimeter.

Firefighters are working hard to contain the fire so the eastern entrance to Going-to-the-Sun can be reopened as soon as possible, Day said.

Work remains.

With fire still burning in some locations, and the danger of falling dead trees, the east side entrance at St. Mary won’t be opened until it's safe for the public, fire officials said.

“This is down to the road,” Kempton said as a van drove past fire that burned to the edge of Going-to-the-Sun, burning so hot it burned away duff and organic material, leaving only minerals.

At pull-outs, fire trucks filled spots where visitors typically pull off to take video of photos of the stunning mountains and St. Mary Lake.

“It’s going really well,” Day said.

The fire hasn’t made much progress since it made an initial run, remaining around 3,000 acres. All of the hand line that was needed to contain the fire has been put in place, and mop up is now occurring in those locations, Day said.

The fire will stick around even after the bulk of firefighters leave, he said.

“We're making a lot of great progress, but as you can see those green islands, there’s going to be fire and smoke within this burn area all summer long until Mother Nature puts her out late this fall or this winter,” Day said.

The fire, he said, will continue to clean up fuels in unburned areas.

“It’s not safe out there for us to go out and try to put out, 100 percent, a 3,000-acre fire with our folks,” Day said.

It hasn’t been an easy fire to fight.

“We’ve been tested every day with the wind here,” Day said.

Firefighters spend hours hiking over steep terrain to reach the fire, said Day, calling their work a “huge accomplishment.”

“Our crews have done an amazing amount of work,” he said.

Firefighters are cutting down dead trees that line the road, Kempton said. The trees are being mulched and trucked out.

Not all of the trees are being removed, just those that pose the biggest threat of falling down. Firefighters are taking orders from Glacier National Park on which trees to remove, Kempton said. Hundreds of trees are being removed, and park officials have been very specific on which trees should be targeted.

“There’s not a clear cut,” he said.

Management of the snags that remain “will be an issue for years to come” for the park, Kempton said.

There are 670 people working the fire along with eight helicopters dropping water from St. Mary Lake. The largest of the helicopters can hold 2,200 gallons. Dropping a load from the largest helicopter is akin to dumping a small swimming pool filled with water on the fire, Day said.

“We’re starting to ramp down with resources,” Day said.

Not many other fires are burning right now in the west. That’s meant ample resources for the Reynolds Creek Creek fire, Kempton said.

It’s not the first time fire has changed the landscape in Glacier National Park. The 34,000-acre fire scar from the 2006 Red Eagle Fire can be seen on the south side of Upper St. Mark Lake.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Karl Puckett at 406-791-1471. Twitter: GFTrib_KPuckett.

Visitors encouraged to explore other areas of the park

WEST GLACIER – The Going-to-the-Sun Road is open to Logan Pass from the west side of Glacier National Park, with up to two-three hour delays. Park rangers are stationed along the Going-to-the-Sun Road managing traffic to Logan Pass.

“Record visitation, combined with the east side of the Going-to-the-Sun Road closed, visitors are encountering delays and congestion with access to Logan Pass on the west side,” Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow said.

“East-side access to Logan Pass will remain closed as long as there is fire burning and firefighters working in close proximity to the Going-to-the-Sun Road,” Mow said. It is unknown when access will be allowed, but Mow says it is a priority for the park. In cooperation with the incident management team, the park is actively working to provide for safe visitor access on the east side.

Visitors are encouraged to use alternative transportation options to access Logan Pass, such as the park’s free shuttle system or concession-operated interpretive tours. The interpretive tours are conducted by park concessioners Glacier National Park Lodges and Sun Tours.

The park and surrounding area offer visitors many outstanding recreational opportunities. Most of the park’s more than 700 miles of trails are accessible, as well as the Many Glacier, Two Medicine and Apgar areas of the park.

Learn more about visitor opportunities at Glacier National Park by visiting http://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm, or stop by a park visitor center or ranger station.

— Source: Glacier National Park