Going to the Sun Road

First things first: the pictures do not justice to how damn scary this road is. The reason it has taken three days to get this post up could be for one of two reasons: first, that I remain so scared of the road that it required days for me to recover from the trauma; or because people in Montana and North Dakota are not aware of the existence of this little thing called the Internet. I'm gonna go on ahead and let you decide the mitigating factors in the delay of posting.

Back to the point: scariest road in North America.

The Going to the Sun Road runs right through Glacier National Park and ascends from around 4000 feet to 7600 feet above sea level. I am happy to report that Nellie did very well on the climb - having adjusted the mixture at about 3500 feet, she ran strong and chugged right up the road like she was cruising the African Savanna - and in terms of engine performance we felt quite comfortable. Steering and stability are different things all together. Nellie has about four inches of play in the steering wheel and when you have 2000 foot drops with no guard rail, and minimal margins on either side from passing traffic and the drop-o-death, the choice is simple: go 10 miles per hour. Indeed, there were times when we went slower than 10 mph and were still holding our breath from fear. This is what we look like on the Going to the Sun Road:



It is rather unsettling to be driving up such a road and to pass things like this:


That is a JERSEY BARRIER, above a 2000 foot drop! There were a number of places that looked like this, and we were too scared to photograph. This road is under construction and there are parts of it that are clearly looking to wash out at any second. This is usually OK as long as you can swerve into the oncoming lane and put your wheels on solid ground, but it is an act of blind faith when there is oncoming traffic.

We reached the summit and were astounded to discover some of the most spectacular views we have ever laid eyes on. Was it worth the treacherous Going to the Sun Road? You tell me.




We made it down the backside of the Going to the Sun Road, which we were told was the easier section but certainly was not, and off into the plains of Eastern Montana. Now, people are quick to talk about how flat North Dakota is, but Eastern Montana is the flattest place I have ever laid eyes on. We are heading eastward towards Minnesota and intend to take a bit of time off in Minneapolis with Tracy Cartwrite at Rovercountry to give the old girl the once over. Since Nellie is currently running with no oil filter she will be looking forward to some much needed attention. Wish us luck, and we will post more soon.