Posted: Jul 17, 2012 10:00 PM by Katy Harris - KAJ News
Updated: Jul 18, 2012 9:53 AM
WEST GLACIER- A mudslide has closed a large portion of the popular Going to the Sun Road after a storm moved through Glacier National Park, packing heavy winds at around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday
It's triggered several mud and rock slides between Avalanche Creek and Logan Pass, forcing park officials to close this five-mile stretch of road.
"There was a lot of debris on the road, lots of water running down, the creeks were very muddy. Finally, some bulldozers came down and took about an hour to clear the road or so overall. We waited about two hours but it took about an hour to actually get the debris off the road," Steve Schultz of Alberta recalled.
Two visitors suffered minor injuries during the slide and the fallen debris trapped about 10 vehicles in the area.
Park rangers, road contractors and other National Park Service employees all responded to the incident and were working late Tuesday to tow one damaged car out of the park after escorting several others out of the closure area through one lane of traffic.
Officials are now working to remove the mounds of debris sitting on the roadway.
"We've got equipment up there and personnel that are moving the rock and the debris from the road and we just want to make sure it's stabilized before we allow traffic," Glacier National Park spokesperson Denise Germann said.
The closure was still in effect between Avalanche Creek and Logan Pass as of 7:20 a.m. according to the Glacier National Park website. Click here for the current road conditions.
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