Glacier National Park’s plow crews headed up Monday morning to the Big Drift, once a 60-foot accumulation of snow at the top of Going-to-the-Sun Road, and encountered a big ice sheet after a weekend filled with sun and record-breaking temperatures.

Park spokeswoman Margie Steigerwald said that while she recommends against hikers and cyclists traversing the 18 inches of ice covering the road east of the Continental Divide, the accelerated thaw could help speed up the process of opening Logan Pass to vehicles.

“It does help with evaporation, so I think overall we’re gaining unless there’s another storm,” she said.

However, road workers west of Logan Pass have to install guardrails at the Rim Rock, where an avalanche blasted away 60 feet of the stone barriers lining portions of Sun Road. It was one of 19 avalanches that came down on Sun Road during recent storms.

Steigerwald said installation of the temporary guardrail should take about one week.

The west-side vehicle closure will remain at Avalanche until Logan Pass opens. The park began allowing traffic to Logan Pass on June 11 last year, and the visitor center opened a week later.

The rest of the park’s campgrounds will open to visitors this month, starting with Kintla Lake on Friday.

Avalanche Lake and Rising Sun campgrounds will open June 17, followed by Quartz Creek on June 29.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.