A ranger at Glacier told me my route plan was 'a guess with a map,' and I rebuilt how I do every trip

Kim Hart · 2026-09-16T21:50:02.831464+00:00

I had my whole 4 day route through the Belly River area mapped out on paper, with campsites and daily mileage picked from a guidebook I bought used in Kalispell. He looked at it for about 10 seconds and asked when I had checked water sources and whether the pass was still snowed in, and I had no answer for either one. Now I call the backcountry office 2 weeks out and again 2 days before, so what do you all do to check conditions when the ranger station is closed for the season?

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A ranger at Glacier told me my route plan was 'a guess with a map,' and I rebuilt how I do every trip | Backpacking Routes - Opinions Matter