Each spring, we gather new and old guides for our annual Glacier Guides Backpacking Training Trip.
Ready to roll!
There are always great discussions, fabulous food, good company and lots of laughs! Providing eco conscious, ecologically responsible, interpretative backpacking trips in Glacier National Park is the reason we were founded in 1983. Since then, we’ve learned a lot about what it takes to give guests the ultimate Glacier backpacking experience.
Great backpacking trips usually start months before, when a guest reaches out via email or phone to ask about joining a trip. Our amazing office will ask you all the right questions to align your fitness levels and expectations with the right departure. You’ll train for the trip and pack your fairly minimal belongings, as we’ll have everything you need.
On a training trip, we start by gathering the equipment we would take if we had “actual” guests on the trip. We go over sanitizing procedures for sleeping bags, sleeping pads, tents, and more. Next, we head up to the kitchen to prep the food. Yes, you can survive in the backcountry on freeze dried meals. But we believe fresh, healthy, delicious food is a better choice. Our in house kitchen staff sources locally and organically whenever possible, and assists backpacking guides in planning menus and prepping meals for trips. You might have shrimp linguine, super pasta, or pancakes with sausage on a trip with us.
After we’re ready to go, we head up to the permit office to go over permit procedures. There’s a lot to unpack there, but we’ve got the know how. If you’d like to know more, there’s a whole other post about backpacking permits in Glacier National Park here.
Finally, permit attached to pack, we’re ready to head out on the trail! Here are a few pics from the Glacier Guides Backpacking Training Trip.
 Some of the Glacier Guides crew. |
 Fun on the trail. This year, we trained at Kintla Lake. |
 Denny! He’s probably about to launch into a Leave No Trace discussion. |
 How many guides does it take to put up a tent? Where’s the best place to put it? What are the tent regs in Glacier? We’re on it! |
 Bryan seems to have this gig figured out. |
 That’s a big canine! We’ll talk about flora, fauna, history, cultural considerations, and a whole lot more on our training trips, and with you. |
 Our guides cook up some great food! |
 Good times around the backcountry stove. |
 2012 backpack training crew. |
Now that our Glacier Guides Backpack Training Trip is in the books, we are excited for another great season backpacking in Glacier!
Thanks to Tami McDaniel, Damian Estrada and Denny Gignoux for the pics.