With spring here, Glacier National Park has dusted off its snowplows and is preparing for the annual snow-removal expedition up Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Weather permitting, the park will begin plowing Friday on Sun Road past the closure at Lake McDonald Lodge.

Wildlife protections for still-denning grizzly bears prohibit Glacier from starting plowing operations before April 1.

Phil Wilson, chief science and resources manager at Glacier, said he hasn’t received many reports of grizzly sightings recently, but cautioned that those venturing out to hike or bike along the popular corridor should remember to carry bear spray.

“I’d carry it all the time in Glacier, just because of the cats,” he added.

Park spokeswoman Margie Steigerwald said crews have finished plowing Chief Mountain Road in the far northeast corner of the park. All other roads remain closed; plowing at Camas Road and Fish Creek also will begin Friday.

Part of the Apgar Campground has been plowed and is open to primitive camping.

Plowing crews are currently working on the road to Many Glacier, where the park will begin renovation work on the hotel beginning April 1. The road will not open to the public until the work is finished.

Last year, west-side plow crews reached the Loop in a matter of days, opening up nonmotorized use of the road well past the popular Avalanche trailhead.

Hiking and biking on the road are allowed as long as crews aren’t working, but access is usually restricted where equipment is operating during regular weekday work hours.

Sun Road’s west side is open to vehicles for 11.5 miles from West Glacier to the lodge. The road’s east side is open one mile to the foot of St. Mary Lake. Primitive camping is open at St. Mary Campground.

Last week’s storms padded snowpack at higher elevations, with snow telemetry stations registering typical snow levels after lagging behind earlier this year.

That’s a far cry from last year’s low snow totals and early-season melt, and Steigerwald said plow crews on the east side have reported two to three times the amount of snow they encountered in 2015.

Logan Pass, sitting at an elevation of 6,640 feet, opened to motor vehicle traffic from the west side on June 11 last year. The full 50 miles of the winding Sun Road opened a week later.

In 2014, record snowpack kept the pass closed until July 3.

Park officials have not yet set an earliest-possible opening date for Logan Pass this year.

“It depends on the conditions they find every day,” Steigerwald said.

“The safety of our employees is the most important thing.”

Progress typically slows to a crawl as crews approach the pass.

For updated road openings and closures, visit home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm.

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