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Scenic Overlooks Ahead

This next section of road is dotted with several choice overlooks. Feel free to pause wherever you see an open spot, but I'll recommend my favorite just five minutes ahead. There you'll get a great view of the park's tallest waterfall. 

I'll point it out when we get there. In the meantime, let's learn a little bit more about the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The Going-to-the-Sun Road. 

Namely, the many hard-working and dedicated crew that poured their blood, sweat, and tears into building it. Every member of the construction crew had a specific job, from cooks to heavy equipment operators to engineers, and each job had its own unique challenges. Regardless of what your title was, you had to be tough to work up here.

All seasons, all conditions, no excuses. They were seasoned pros at ignoring the cold, skirting around danger, and had even developed a superhuman tolerance to filth and BO. But a grumbling stomach was where they drew the line.

If the cook wasn't good, the men had them leave the very next day. And it wasn't just the workers who loved that home cooking. The bears did too.

Innovative Bear Deterrents

On a remote mountain 15 miles from town, a hungry bear could be a real problem. So to deter them, workers hung their lunches and tools from nearby trees. The clattering tools would scare the bears away, and if not, at least they could hear the noise and give them a good shout.

The cooks had their own ideas about how to keep the bears at bay. They experimented with everything from exposed nails, stilts, drawbridges, and rumor has it, some more explosive deterrents. But the most dangerous job award had to go to the demo team.

Dangerous Jobs and Powder Monkeys

The crew's dynamite experts, nicknamed powder monkeys, manually chiseled rocks to create holes for the explosives. Now this sounds risky enough, but then consider, they were often working hanging off of cliff faces, trekking over icy ledges, or crawling through unstable tunnels. Not to mention, most folks were just out working in their regular day clothes, just jeans or coveralls and boots. 

They didn't really have protective gear back then. Hey, this was all way before OSHA. But one day, while prepping the mountainside for a massive blast right around where we're driving now, the powder monkeys took unusual precautions. 

With 500 kegs of dynamite ready for the big boom, it was time to don their specialist equipment. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you woolen socks. That's right. 

The Unsung Heroes

But remember, all it would take was a little flicker to blow them and the roadway to smithereens. And afraid their nail-cobbled boots might throw out an errant spark, they covered them with thick woolen socks. Which, while flame and spark-resistant, aren't exactly explosion-resistant.

But I guess you gotta do with the tools you're given, right? As we continue cruising down this road, let's remember the everyday heroes who made it possible. We often focus on big names and famous figures, but it's the countless workers who toiled tirelessly that truly brought this road to life. The unsung champions who traded comfort for grit and paved the way for us to enjoy this journey today.