Idaho man killed in fall from Sun Road
<p>A Glacier National Park ranger prepares to descend from the Going-to-the-Sun Road on Sept. 19 in search of an Idaho man who fell from the road near the Big Drift location.</p>
Officials report that a man from Idaho died after falling from Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road on Sept. 18.
The body of Brandon Luis Avalos, 18, from St. Maries, Idaho, was recovered the next day by Park rangers who descended from the Sun Road near the Big Drift area east of Logan Pass.
Officials believe Avalos had climbed over a guardwall along the Sun Road and fell about 100 feet. The terrain below the alpine highway there is steep, with cliff bands and high angle scree slopes.
An initial investigation indicates Avalos and three friends were visiting the Park on Sept. 18. They stopped near the Big Drift at about 10 p.m., and Avalos exited the vehicle.
When Avalos didn’t return, his friends thought he might have hiked back to Logan Pass. They stayed in the area overnight and waited for him to return.
The friends began looking for Avalos the next morning and then contacted Park employees at Logan Pass after they found his body.
The Glacier County Sheriff’s Office determined Avalos died from an accidental fall. Park rangers recovered his body at about 4 p.m. and transported the body to a local funeral home.