Just in case you're wondering, somebody has to plow the road from Longmire to Paradise, plow the sidewalk between the lower and upper parking lots, and plow the parking lots for weekend visitors, which includes the 5 miles between Longmire and the chain up area at Glacier Bridge during the worst travel conditions and the 6 miles from Glacier Bridge to Paradise.
That's plowing 11 miles of road, two parking lot and one sidewalk. The poles in the snow in the Webcams at Paradise are guides for the road and a rough guide for the depth of the snow, which is measured at specific locations at Paradise and other places around the NP, see map of sites.
In short, it's an everyday task for the NP staff, first to check the road if the overnight snow wasn't significant and to plow it either way. The plows are kept at Longmire since the NP can't store fuel at Paradise (the old Longmire commercial gas station, now the public restrooms) but can at Longmire for NPS uses.
So when you go there, appreciate some got up early and prepared the road for your visit. Son't forget the NP now has a Twitter Account so you can check the latest news about the road and what time the gate at Longmire will open for visitors to Paradise.
And it doesn't hurt to thank them.
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