Going To The Sun Road in September

I was thinking about taking the train out to Glacier NP this Sept. I wanted to go right after Labor Day but waited to long to make reservations, so now if I go I have to make it later in Sept.

I'm currently looking at Sept. 6-7 thru Sept. 13. I did find out that there will be no thru traffic on Going To The Sun Road after Sept 14 this year. I was wondering if anyone on this forum has been out to GNP in Sept. and if you experienced good or bad weather?

Thanks!

The one time I went to Glacier NP was in mid September. I snow storm blew in one day while we were there. GEEZ, with the wind it snowed sideways and up as well as down. Visibility was about 50 feet. Storm only lasted a day. The next day the park was spectacular looking. Cleared out the haze and smoke from forest fires wonderfully that had blown in from western Montana and Idaho. In a nutshell prepare for both beautiful and miserable weather in Spetember.

Only time I've been there was in the time frame you mention, and it was clear and dry.

In 2004 my wife and I spent Labor Day weekend in Glacier NP and didn't run into any issues with snow. There was a fair amount of cloud cover and off and on mist, but even up at the visitor center at Logan Pass, any precip that fell there wasn't of the snowy type. We dayhiked to Gunsight Lake and didn't run into anything but rain on that as well...the trail was muddy though. Definitely bring your wet weather gear as the area is usually transitioning to wet season around that time. Based on the conditions we saw, I'm kind of surprised that they close the road on the 14th...but, as we know, that time of year anywhere in the Rockies, anything can happen.

Here are a few links to some snapshots from that trip to visually show the conditions:

St. Marys Lake
Lake McDonald
[url=http://www.generationalt.com/images/glacier3.jpg]Bird Woman Falls
Gunsight Lake
Valley en route to Gunsight Lake

I made my trip in 2006, and I was there the last week of September. The first full day I was there, Going to the Sun Road was closed because of snow. It did open by 1:00 p.m. the next day. So, I guess what Doug said was dead on. Be prepared for just about everything. You can see what I was able to capture in just 3 days on the Glacier gallery on my website. I envy you, it is a very remarkable place, and the crowds are way down after Labor Day.
Good shooting!
Morris

My wife and I went there last September from Labor day the 2nd to the 12th and the weather
was beautiful. Daytime temps were in the high 60's and nightime upper 30's low 40's. The
best time of year to go as the crowds are gone and you will have the park to yourself for the
most part. Only problem we had were from the fires to the west which was blowing smoke
into Glacier and made the skies hazy, but still managed to get some great shots of the
mountains, glaciers and wildlife. Logans pass is a definite stop for marmots, Mountain goats
and Big Horn sheep. Enjoy, Enjoy!!!

I was there numerous times last summer including between June and September. I will add that in September most of the crowds were gone and it was a nice time of year. I was there when they opened the road for the year on July 1, but avoided heading to the Pass on that day since it was crazy in the park.

On the Sunday after Labor Day I went up to Logan Pass and there were some flurries every so often and it was quite chilly. The larger challenge was they had started some construction work on G2TS road and coming down ran into some delays. Last year they also closed the road early for a more complete fix on the east side of the pass which had washed out in the fall of 2006.

On the other hand when I was there this past February I went on snowshoes from Lake McDonald Lodge a few miles and saw maybe 10 people during that clear blue sky day in the 30's.