Planning Your First Backpacking Trip Out West

David, I am going to bookmark this article for sure! Thanks!

Nice article that hits your target audience just right. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

David,

Thank you for this article. I am in beginning stages of planning a week long trip for next year(thinking either summer or fall) and you have really helped narrow it down with this. Great job!

Chris

Great as usual thx you

Thanks everyone.

I had coffee with a new-to-Montana person last week, and talking to her about the logistics of backcountry permits in Glacier got me thinking about how tough it can be for neophytes to do the big national parks in the summer. If you don't have previous knowledge the logistics of even little things can get very frustrating, which seems to put lots of folks off. I think this is unfortunate, as usually fairly minor alterations in planning can make these issues mostly go away.

Thank you David for taking the time to put this article together and share. Perfect timing, as I'm heading to CA in Sept for my first BP trip in the West.

Thanks David. This is an excellent overview of the possibilities out west. The summaries for each area distill a lot of helpful, real-world experience. As a transplanted easterner, just finishing my 2nd season out here, I really appreciate it!