Glacier Park National Park Hiking Rafting Report for June 26th 2008

Good morning folks, this is Denny with your hiking and rafting report for June 26th. The Glacier National Park forecast for the weekend looks to be clear and sunny with high of 90 on Sunday.

The trails are still good on the lower elevations, but watch for swollen creeks as the snow starts to melt off. Expect snow above 5500 feet with ice axes and crampons required for any passes or areas with snow covered avalanche paths. There are still many trees down at the head of Bowman, and upper Kintla Lake.

We have trail reports from

Apgar Look Out – dry and free of snow and trees.

Mt Brown Look out still has several snow crossings.

Belly River in to Gable Creek, Cosley and Elizabeth is drying out and the bridges are in.

Head of Bowman Lake towards Browns Pass very slow going due to all of downed trees and Pocket Creek is flooding.

The bears are out and about – we have seen black bears and grizzlies on our hiking and rafting trips. A couple of bald eagles also. Remember we sell bear spray at cost.

The river level is 6.27 feet in West Glacier, creating a great splashy adventure. The river is high for this time of year, everyone heading out for the 4th of July be careful, the water is swift and cold - the conditions are different from last 4th of July. We have been running Bear Creek down to Blankenship on the middle fork and the Canadian border down on the North Fork.

Several of our Guides paddled in a raft from Bear Creek all the way to Flathead Lake - Just under 100 miles in 15 hours. They took out at eagle bend take out. – First time ever done, Check out the front page of the Hungry Horse News today 6-26-2008.

Glacier National Park's 6/19/08 rafting and hiking report

Good morning folks, this is Denny with your hiking and rafting report for June 19th.  The Glacier National Park forecast for the weekend looks to be mostly sunny with slight chance of thunderstorms/showers on Sunday.

The trails look to be good on the lower elevations, but watch for swollen creeks as the snow starts to melt off.  Expect snow above 5500 feet with ice axes and crampons required for any passes or areas with snow covered avalanche paths.  There are still many trees down at the head of Bowman, and Kintla Lakes. 

We have trail reports from

Apgar Look Out – dry and freee of snow and trees.

Belly River in to Gable Creek, Cosley and Elizabeth is drying out and the bridges are in.

Head of Bowman Lake towards Browns Pass very slow going due to all of downed trees and Pocket Creek is flooding.

The bears are out and about – we have seen black bears and grizzlies on our hiking and rafting trips.  A couple of bald eagles also.

The river level is 6.96 feet in West Glacier, creating a fun spashy adventure.  We have been running Bear Creek down to Blankenship on the middle fork and the Canadian border down on the North Fork.

This Saturday is Rafting for Refuse, our 12th annual river clean up.  This is free to the public, but a reservation is required.  Meet at 9:30 for a morning of rafting and garbage clean up, then we head on home for BBQ and volleyball.

6/12/08 Trail and River Update

This is Glacier Guides' and Montana Raft Co's second report for the trail and river conditions in Glacier National Park for the 2008 season. What a week it was. Parts of Glacier received 2-3 feet of snow in the last few days. An unusual low pressure (winter storm like) passed through the area on Tues and Wed. While not unheard of in June it is definitely not the norm.

TRAIL REPORT
Glacier Guides had a backpacking trip out in the Belly River when the storm rolled through. That's up in the NW corner of the Park and received varying amounts of snow. Our group only had a few inches while camping at Cosley Lake. However as they hiked out on Wednesday they encountered deeper accumulations of snow. By the time they reached the trailhead at Chief Mountain there was 2-3 feet of snow! So, until it warms up (which is forecast for this weekend) the hiking is going to be limited on the Eastside. The best hiking opportunities remain the lower valleys on the Westside, Kintla, Bowman, Logging and the McDonald Valleys. Trails are muddy but generally free of snow.

RIVER REPORT
As a result of the colder weather the level of the River's has dropped considerably from their highs. The Middle Fork has been running between 5-6 feet this last week and the North Fork has dropped as well. On Saturday I floated from the Canadian Border to Polebridge on the N. Fork. That section had plenty of water and was as beautiful and remote as always. Total float time about 4 hours. Also of note: the North Fork Road was in good shape. Then on Sunday and Monday our company did our overnight raft training trip with new guides. We floated from Bear Creek to West Glacier on the Middle Fork of the Flathead. This time of year that stretch of river (40 miles) is an easy 2 day. Despite rain off and on it turned out to be a great float. We had the river to ourselves and it's at a really fun level now. Jaws Rapid is the most challenging rapid on the river now as the river tries to push you toward the left side and over the Jaws pour-over.

The rivers are going to start rising again soon though as the forecast is for temperatures in the 70's during the coming week. Check back on our site for updates or stop by our recently opened Bonecrusher Bistro for a treat and the latest on the rivers and trails of Glacier.

And remember to comment back to our blog if you have any updated trail or river information.

Happy Trails
Randy Gayner

6/5/08 Trail and River Update

Glacier Guides and Montana Raft Co. will be posting an update to trail and river conditions in Glacier National Park on a weekly basis starting today, June 5th. We encourage other hikers to post updates or info on hikes you have taken by commenting back to these reports. Just click on the "comment" button below.

RIVER REPORT
The rafting season is off to a great start. We have near record snow levels up in the mountain for this time of year due to a good winter snow pack and a cool wet spring. As a result the rivers have been running high and swift. I've never seen our guides as excited at the beginning of the rafting season. We have been running commercial trips for 2 weeks now, mostly on the upper sections of the Middle Fork of the Flathead. Specifically Essex to Paola or Paola to Cascadilla. The reasons for going up river are two fold; 1-the normal half day is too short of a trip with water running this fast and ,2-Pinball can be a tricky rapid at river levels above 8 feet in West Glacier.

If you are rafting on your own, check the river level before going out as the water has been going up and down quite a bit in a short period of time. The level of the river in West Glacier as reported on our site has varied from 11.3 feet to 6.5 feet throughout the last 2 weeks. Anything above 7.5 is considered high water with flood stage at 10 feet. On May 19th when the river peaked, we at Montana Raft Co. went out and shot a bunch of video and posted it on our website, www.glacierguides.com, under our video section. Check it out! One last point, debris in the river (floating logs and trees) increases as the river is rising and disappears as the river goes down. The video we shot was after the river peaked and the debris was dissipating. It is not advisable to be on the river while large trees are floating down. Also please be aware that the river is creating a new channel though the Nyack Flats with new logs jams. We'll keep you posted on that as the river settles into it's new flow.

TRAILS REPORT
The high trails in Glacier National Park are going to be a little slow in opening up, as opposed to the fast pace of the rivers. No trails up high are free of snow at this time. There is plenty of hiking available though. Glacier Guides has had backpacking trips into Logging Lake, Kintla Lake and Bowman Lake. The trails up the North Fork are snow free and beautiful this time of year with the snow still covering the peaks. You also have the Park pretty much to yourself now.

Another popular activity in full swing is biking up the Going-to-the-Sun Hwy. I did that last weekend with my kids and had a great time. They were impressed by the amount of water in McDonald Creek. We also saw a moose, a black bear up on the hillside and a Harlequin Duck up close on the Creek. On the Westside you can drive as far as the Avalanche trailhead. Two days ago we lead a day hike up to Avalanche Lake with the trail now free of snow but still a little wet. Please stay on the trail in the wet areas so as not to damage vegetation along side of the trail.

The trails on the Eastside of Glacier are just becoming more accessible with some snow still lingering. Also, as a result of the high water the Eastside received two weeks ago, some of the bridges are still not in, so check with a ranger station before heading out.

To show how much snow is up in the high country we are posting the picture below that was taken at Granite Park Chalet early in May.

Please post back to us any comments or updates you have!! Happy Trails, Randy Gayner

Snow to the top of Granite Park Chalet roof with Heavens Peak in the background.