Introduction
My friend Morgan and I had never backpacked in Glacier National Park. So with some spare time on our hands after the 2015 Packraft Roundup, we plotted a backpacking and packrafting trip to explore the northern end of the park. Our plan for our Glacier National Park packrafting trip was an easy hike over the mountains and down the Belly River toward the Canadian Border.
However, I’ve learned that combining rivers and hiking into one trip makes things unpredictable. There are always surprises. We avoided river disasters but still had plenty of adventure.
Highlights included:
- A summer hail/snow storm;
- A grizzly bear bullied us;
- Exploring a remote river.
Glacier Park Packrafting Adventure Photo Narrative
Morgan and I met at the 2014 Packraft Roundup and had an awesome trip together in the Bob Marshall Wilderness after that was over. The highlight of that trip was going off trail without a good map over a mountain pass and down to the headwaters of the White River.
After the 2015 Packraft Roundup, we decided to do another trip together before Morgan flew home to California. This time, Morgan didn’t have as much time, and the Packraft Roundup had tired us out so we opted for what we thought would be a simple plan.
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Companion forum thread to: The Ptarmigan-to-Belly River Traverse: Packrafting in Glacier National Park
Luke Schmidt tests his wilderness skills with a Glacier National Park packrafting trip over Ptarmigan Pass and down the Belly River. He shares photos from the trip and the gear he used.
If you size your packrafting windshirt, with hood, to fit over your PFD, you can achieve substantial wet-proof insulation for a negligible weight increase. Â This works for both active and static situations.
Interesting idea Richard, my raincoat would probably fit over my new PFD so maybe I’ll try it. Since then I’ve used my drysuit on pretty much all my trips. I was tempted to try a Alpacka suit this year but in the end I put my new gear money into lighter hiking gear and kept my bomber drysuit.
Is this the trip where you guys ran into Stu?
yes it was. We met under the trees in the hailstorm and hiked out together.I would strongly suggest not putting rubber bands around the wrists of a rain jacket for paddling splashing water.
Back before I had a drytop I kayaked in a top with neoprene wrist cuffs. In waves water the end result was always sleeves full of water(sloshing around). Anything short of a full on latex gasket lets water in, and then having the cuffs tight up around your wrist leads to water sagging the sleeve down, preventing it from draining back out again easily.
Morgan Rucks: The New Face of Packrafting. http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/travel/article99307092.html
I forgot to include this in the article, we made a video of our trip.
Great article, thanks Luke! And I enjoyed the video you posted.
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