Emergency #2

I'm going out of order of days because as of now I'm so far behind and I think this post needs to be posted now.  We have been going non-stop day and night and I haven't had much time to work on it and we haven't had great internet either.

Well if you thought the propane incident was bad, it doesn't even compare to what happened in Glacier National Park. One of the main sights to see in Glacier is driving the Going to the Sun Road. It is a narrow, winding road built through the mountains in the 1930's at an altitude of around 6,500 feet with 1000 foot dropoffs from the edge. Since the road is so narrow, there are vehicle size restrictions on the road. We decided to take one of the historic red jammer buses on the tour. 

These were fabulous old buses built in the 1930's and have a rollback convertible top.  They hold 17 people. 

The day started out beautiful.  First thing we saw a black bear off to the side.  The driver, Parker, then pointed out a bridge we crossed that was used in the Forest Gump movie.  We made several stops along the way for photos.  This is one of the most scenic stops we saw the entire trip.

Our next stop was Logan's Pass.  There is still snow on the ground there.  The kids had a blast playing in it and throwing snowballs.

We continued on the road down to Lake McDonald for lunch.  I was nervous the whole time as the road was very high, very windy and had only about a 2 foot high side barrier made out of stones.  It was beautiful, but intense.  After lunch we turned around to head back on the road.  It started to drizzle.  Our driver thought we could outrun the rain so we didn't stop to put the top up.  It started to rain harder so we finally had to stop to put the top up.  The sky started looking darker and the clouds were getting lower and lower.  The lightning started and the rain came down harder and faster. 

All of a sudden our car hit something.  I yell, "What the hell was that?"  We see a basketball size rock fly off the car over the guard rail.  We just figured we hit a rock in the road.  We go another mile or so and all of a sudden another rock hits the car.  Then we see other rocks (of various sizes) coming down the mountain, bouncing off the road and over the side.  Bam! Another rock hits the car.  I yell to the kids, "Get down, get down".  Everyone gets down on the floor.  We can see rocks and mud sliding down the mountain and into the road.  Rocks continue to hit the car.  The car in front of us turns around.  Our driver starts trying to back up.  He's yelling, how much room do I have.  Someone says about 20 feet.  He backs up and then has to stop.  Stuff continues to come down.  We are all scared and panicked.  Finally I yell, "Get out, get out".  John and I grab the kids and he tells us to hide on the side of the mountain.  There are some areas that are caved in and we figure we'll be safe there as stuff continues to come down the mountain.  Our fear was we weren't sure if there was going to be a bigger slide that would push the car over the side of the mountain, plus we were in a vehicle that had a canvas convertible top.  Not much protection when rocks are hitting your car.  Finally we grab the kids and start running towards all of the cars behind us.  I'm knocking on windows saying "Is there any room in there?  Please let us in.".  I feel like we're literally running for our lives.  There were a few more red jammer buses behind us.  They start throwing ponchos at us (as we are completely soaked as we have been out running in the pouring rain".  We get in the cars (we're in separate cars as there wasn't enough room in one car for all of us).  Finally the slide stops.  We get out and inspect the damage.  The road is blocked.  Then we hear there are several slides on the road.  We are essentially trapped on top of the mountain.  But we are all safe.

 Look at the bigger rocks laying in the road.

Were we 60 seconds earlier, our bus would've been a this exact location.

Look at the huge rocks that bounced over the side.  The bus behind us stated they saw a huge rock/boulder hit the road and bounce behind our bus.

Everyone evaluating the situation.  There is no cell phone service on top of the mountain.  Our saving grace is they were doing road construction on this road a few miles back.  Some people walk down to find them and they call the Park Rangers.

I'm still concerned at this point that something else is going to come sliding down the mountain.  Once I realize that's over, the rain has stopped and I know we're okay, I break down.  I fell like I'm in shock.  Katie's still upset and crying.  I finally get out to evaluate the situation. 

 Jack doesn't even realize what just happened.  This is just pure excitement for him. 

It's like a scene out of a movie.

 

 

After the shock has worn off.

There were 12 landslides that happened in the same area.  John and Sam walked down and took these pictures.

 

The only positive is that they were working on the road a few miles back so there was equipment available to clear the roads.  First they had to turn everyone around to head back down the mountains so they could get the equipment through to clear the slides.  We ended up waiting for about 2 1/2 hours before we were allowed to head down. 

 

The buses we ended up getting in were full of people on "Adventures by Disney".  They were a bunch of teenagers.  They were great trying to play games with the kids and get their minds off of what was happening.   It really did help them pass the time.

 

Once we were able to leave, one of the construction people told us she had been working in the area for 16 years and something like this had never happened.  The news said we had gotten 1 1/2 inches of rain in 30 minutes.

 

Look at these 2 pictures and compare the color of the water before the landslide:

 

 

 

And after:

 

 

Look at the path it created through the trees.

 

Here's a link to the story that was in the news.  Someone was able to get some video of it.

 

going-to-the-sun-road-reopens-after-landslide

 

http://www.ktvq.com/news/glacier-national-park-mudslide-caught-on-tape/

 

Once we were able to make it down the mountain, we still had to make it back to the campground.  We stopped at Lake McDonald again, for dinner, bought dry clothes and socks and headed out.  It took close to 3 hours to get back.  Poor Katie started crying on the way back with a stomach ache and we had to stop.  Made it home in bed by 11:00.  Katie slept with us that night.  Not a good night's sleep for John or I.