My friend and I are planning a 5-6 night hiking / packrafting trip in the Bob Marshall this summer. Starting on the upper Dearborn River, we will hike north along the CDT, before heading west along the Scapegoat Mountain cliff-side, then ascending to the plateau and mostly following the continental divide ridge until Observation Pass, before descending to Danaher Creek. A total of 50 miles hiking, including maybe 10 miles off-trail. From there it’s a 40 packraft on the Middle Fork of the Flathead and a short 3 mile hike out to the take-out at Meadow Creek. Luckily my parents live near Great Falls and can help with the really long drive to the pick-up location. Our planned route on CalTopo is here: https://caltopo.com/m/97HS
We can do the trip either in late June, or in late July. We were planning late June, but are getting reports that there is a ton of snowpack this year. Would we be better off planning for July? Any other advice from folks who have hiked in this area is much appreciated. Thanks!
