Going to the sun highway is the name of the road that crosses Glacier National Park; it is a narrow winding road that has been chiseled out of the mountain sides. There are waterfalls almost around every bend, endless views of the surrounding mountains and deep valleys. When it passes the continental divide at Logan’s Pass the elevation is over 6600 feet. There is still deep snow on the ground up there and this morning when we drove to the top it was shrouded in mist, from the clouds that wrapped the mountain top.
On our excursion today we saw several very distinctive looking tour buses operating in the park and later this afternoon we learned the history of the old buses. While Millie and I were walking the dogs around the campground we noticed a truck tag from Maryland, on closer inspection we saw that the truck had a Chestertown Maryland Dealers emblem on it and an Ocean City camper sign hanging from the camper. We haven’t seen many Maryland or South Carolina tags out here so I had to go up and say hello. The owners are work campers and he is one of the drivers of the old tour buses in the park.
Here is what we learned about them. In the 1930s, White Motors produced 500 Model 706 buses specifically designed to carry passengers through the major national parks of the western United States. The distinctive vehicles, with roll-back canvas convertible tops, originally operated in seven National Parks. Today, Glacier operates 33 of their original 35 buses, where they are referred to as "Red Jammers." The 33 buses were refurbished by Ford Motor Company in 2002 and now sport Ford running gear. Glacier has kept one bus in original condition.
Tomorrow we roll again, basically a travel day on our way to Little Big Horn National Battlefield, but you never know what will catch our interest and change our course.
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