The American Packrafting Association is holding a Packraft Roundup July 11-13th, at the Big Creek campground just west of Glacier National Park. There will be a swiftwater rescue class Friday the 11th (space limited), a BBQ the evening of the 12th, and packraft outings and workshops both Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th. Registration for the Roundup is 30 dollars, and includes camping and the BBQ. The rescue class costs 75 dollars.
More info here: http://packraft.org/American_Packrafting_Association/Packraft_Roundup.html
This should be a great event in a great location at a great time of year. The Big Creek campground is run by the forest service, and in a great location in a big ponderosa grove along the North Fork of the Flathead. You can start and end trips right at the campground. It provides easy access to a bunch of other creeks. There is no cell service. It's an easy ~45 minutes from the Glacier International airport, the last 10 miles of which are washboarded dirt road passable by any vehicle.
What I'd like to do, if there is interest, is do a 2.5 day backcountry trip the Tuesday through Thursday before the rescue class. Tuesday would be spent setting a car shuttle and hiking in to a BC camp in Glacier. Wednesday would be some great alpine hiking (possibly over some non-technical snow), some floating, and a bit more hiking to a spectacular camp by a high alpine lake. Thursday would be a full day of hiking over another pass, with some river floating at the end of the day. We could camp at Big Creek that evening.
This would be a good trip for moderately fit backpackers with a bit of whitewater experience. There would be 15-18 miles of hiking each of the last two days, with floating up to class III.
Respond here if interested. I'd also be pleased to help folks plan trips either before or after the Roundup. It would be an ideal time of year to do a longer trip in the Bob Marshall.
