Red Bus Tour: Glacier National Park

 

It was a little like a ride into the past. Since 1933, Red Buses have been part of the transportation system at Glacier National Park. The Red Bus Tour was Randy's favorite things in Glacier - probably because he didn't have to do the driving and was free to gawk around as much as he wanted.

The buses have an oak frame which support their bodies. Don was our driver, and we were assigned the No. 106 bus. The Red Bus tours provide an iconic and historic way to explore the park.

Roe Emery (1875-1953) was one of two principals behind the creation of Glacier’s iconic Red Buses. Emery and Walter White, a vice president of the Cleveland-based White Motor Company, which built the Red Buses, introduced transportation to the park in 1914. Many in the current fleet of Red Buses have been in service since the mid-1930s. The Red Buses were the first authorized motor transportation utility in any National Park. The Going-to-the-Sun road was first opened 1933 and Red Buses have been part of the transportation system during the road's entire history.

The Red Bus stopped at various locations. The first one was McDonald Falls.

In 1936, with park reservations up more than 70 percent above 1935 levels, 18 new buses joined the fleet. The purchase was made from the White Motor Company for a price of $90,000. The buses have a roll-back top for sightseeing. The Red Buses received their first automatic transmissions in 1989. Of the 33 buses on the road today, 17 are from 1936, 11 are from 1937, 4 are from 1938 and 1 is from 1939. The Red Buses, on average, transport 60,000 tourists each summer through Glacier. The fleet of 33 buses in Glacier are considered to be the oldest touring fleet of vehicles anywhere in the world. Today, each red bus is estimated to be worth $250,000.

I was not the only one taking photos out of the top and sides of the bus.

  

 

I probably should have taken notes about the mountains and other attractions the driver pointed out. But I didn't.

 

I just admired the variety of greenery that framed all the mountain and valley scenes.

It's amazing to me the lushness and the colors of the wildflowers growing in what seems to be rocks.

It was overcast and rained on us - just a little bit. It was enough for Don to get out the wool blankets, which he said would provide a rain cover. A few people covered up with them, but we didn't.

My favorite stop on the Red Bus Tour was Logan Pass. Thankfully, the Red Buses have assigned parking areas. Otherwise, the parking lot was packed, and I'm not sure we would have gotten a space on our own. I wish we would have had more time there, but I'm glad we were able to walk around for a short time.

 

 Again, the wildflowers were beautiful - so many colors and the photos don't do the scene justice.

Our bus tour was 4 hours, round trip. Since it wasn't yet 3 PM and we couldn't drive into the park itself, a park ranger suggested a side trip along the Outside North Fork Road. We took a short hike at Huckleberry Lookout, where we were able to walk among the tall lodgepole pines and other towering trees. At Glacier, the pine trees haven't been ravaged by pine beetles. There is such a variety - trees that look like pipe cleaners atop brown sticks, the white-barked aspen, and evergreens that look like a forest of Christmas trees. There were even cottonwoods, which made Kansans feel right at home.

 Nothing like towering trees to make you feel small and insignificant.

Driving along further on the road, we came to a river. Not long after, we saw a dad and two boys rafting down the river. The boys waved at us, and the dad wanted a weather report after hearing thunder. Also, notice again how clear the water is in the photo below, taken from a bridge.

The running water on the other side took them away quickly after they passed under the bridge.

 

We continued our huckleberry exploration with a stop at the Huckleberry Patch in Hungry Horse. Yes, that's the name of the town.

 

We had huckleberry pie with huckleberry ice cream. (I am kind of a pie snob, so I liked the ice cream better than the pie.) But when in Montana, go with the huckleberries. At least, that's how it seemed to us!

That evidently gave Randy the energy he needed to play a round of golf. As we traveled through Columbia Falls, he saw a billboard for a golf course. We turned around and checked the availability. Since rain sprinkles were threatening, we didn't have trouble getting onto the course, and it turned out to be beautiful.

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We had another golf experience while at Glacier. Because we didn't have a vehicle pass the first day, we went to Glacier View Golf Club to fill some time before 3 PM.

It was just a few miles from the entrance to Glacier, so it put us in the area after Randy was done.

The mountain scenery and abundant water were a different look than we're used to.