NewsLocal NewsFlathead County

Actions

26 years of service to Glacier National Park

Posted at 6:14 PM, Jun 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-05 20:14:15-04

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK – Plow crews have cleared Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass at Glacier National Park.

After over a decade of service, this is Stan Stahr’s park last year to experience working on the iconic Going to the Sun Road.

“I’m going to miss working with the guys and all the people in the park service especially the scenery and wildlife. I won’t know how badly I’ll miss it until about six months later,” explained Stahr.

Stahr has been supervising road crews in Glacier National Park since 1993 and says that after working in the park for 26 years, his crew is like family.

Going to the Sun Plowing
Plow crews have cleared Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass at Glacier National Park. (MTN News photo)

“We get to know the people that work here and we’re really close, all are fun, all the tragedies that happen,” says Stahr.

Logan Pass and Going to the Sun Road sit at over 6,000 feet elevation and the high elevations mixed with strong winds and snow comes with its challenges.

Erich Peitzsch with the US Geological Survey told MTN News that he has to prepare plow crews for avalanches.

“We go through rescue scenarios because, to be honest, they’re up here, us avalanche forecasters are up here but we’re basically the ones, we and they are the ones who are going to perform a rescue if necessary.”

Pietzsch says this year the park saw average avalanche activity.

While the road is free of snow, crews still have a lot of work to do. The visitor’s center at Logan Pass is still buried under snow and guard rail crews are only 1/3 of the way up the road.

For now, Stahr is enjoying his last month of work in the park and plans on retiring June 21st.

Depending on weather and pavement preservation the park reminds people that the earliest Going to the Sun Road will open is June 22.