The most beautiful drive I've ever been on was last fall in Montana. Going to the Sun Road is so popular, you have to make a reservation to drive along it. We were incredibly lucky because it was the last day of 2022 open to visitors.
That's a road, leading out of Logan Pass, if you look carefully you can see cars. The visitors centre was absolutely packed, so we just stopped numerous times to take it all in.
We entered the park on September 30th from St Mary on the Eastern side. Saint Mary lake is in the background. It sort of looked like a Scottish Loch, or what I think one would look like.
While there were a few cars driving past, it really wasn't that crowded. Nights get cold up in the Rocky Mountains in the fall and the busy summer season felt long gone.
We came to this park hoping to see Glacier's but there were just tiny patches of snow off in the distance. The weekend before I panicked and went to the Columbia Ice Field 400 km north to ensure we would be able to see a glacier up close before they melt away. Our research brought us to pages filled with stories about how there used to be Glacier's all over Glacier park but they have receded so high up the mountains they are inaccessible to all but the most adventurous mountaineers.
Piegan Pass would have some snow and ice year round on its surrounding peaks. The is looking towards Canada, if you ever want to walk across the border this is a great place to do it- but only in the Summer!
There were little waterfalls everywhere, signs of melting snow. In a few weeks the glaciers will start growing again.
Logan Pass is such an amazing sight to behold the photos just cannot do it any justice. It was so hard to keep one's eyes on the road but as you can see that was absolutely necessary.
This would be a painter's paradise with the fall coulors and dynamic landscapes.
Comming down into the valley was equally as stunning as going up into the pass. We stopped at Avalanche creek picnic area. My best guess is this road would be under a few meters of snow in the winter.
You can see some of those famous Montana rainbow stones in the river which drains into Lake MacDonald.
It was so peaceful, we'd love to come back. Unfortunately the road was closed for the season, so we had to go another way.
All photos taken with an s22 or iphone 13 pro
[//]:# (!pinmapple 48.69969 lat -113.72476 long Going-to-the-Sun Rd d3scr)