Thanks, Ganga.

Wow, Shane, that’s quite a story and a good demonstration of how late September can be a good time in northern mountains but you certainly better be ready for anything. I’m glad you guys were and you have a story you’ll tell forever. Thanks again for buying my e-guides and it pleases me to get such a positive review of them from you.

Good luck with your Glacier permit application this year. Piegan Pass is amazing every time—I can testify to that—and hopefully you’ll have weather that permits you to crane your neck up and around at those incredible peaks.

Safe travels.

Hey Michael,

Once again, it’s winter, and I’m back on your site. No surprise there. It’s funny, as I was scrolling down to the bottom I happened to see my comment at the top, so I figured I’d circle back around to not only let you know that I’m going to pick up a few more guides, but also to give my short review of that 90-mile CDT trek in Glacier you wrote a guide on.

First off, the guide was fantastic. It’s well worth the money and your experience and insights are highly valuable. I applied during the ‘early draw lottery phase’ and must have been pulled quite late, because it was about 2 months later when the rangers got back to me. However, I was flexible as could be and so they set me up for late September on the full traverse. For smoke purposes and lack there of bugs, it was exceptional for 90% of the time or more.

Mother nature wouldn’t be THAT nice though. The wind was as severe as I’ve ever experienced (ridgelines were rough – often) and likely ever will in my lifetime, but we managed to persevere. For context though, after enduring the most intense day of them all (Reynolds Creek to Many Glacier) the park ranger said that the weather reports were calling for 75 mph wind gusts AT MANY GLACIER CG and that same day we had just came down from Piegan Pass (some 3k ft above the CG). As you know, not a lovely place to be during what I’m considering a western tornado. I’m certain mother nature gave us 100+mph winds…as evidence by our 1.5 mph pace from the pass down to the base of the waterfall. We were forced to sit down mid-trail dozens of times. Which was too bad, because personally, this was the most mesmerizing portion of the whole trip. South and North of Piegan pass were just jaw-dropping. Too bad I had my head down so often. All the animals hid too. The next day, to the tunnel, it snowed up and down lol. Mountain sunny though by Gable Creek.

With all that being said though, never have I been anywhere that was so big, beautiful, raw and deserving of the word ‘breathtaking’ in my life. Unforgettable journey. So when I saw you had another Glacier trek of greatness AND it takes me back over Piegan – I’m bait, line, sinker. Anyways, long story long, the trek was incredible, I appreciate your material and I CANNOT WAIT TO GET OUT THERE AGAIN!!!

Hi Shane,

Thanks for buying one of my Glacier e-guides, I think you’ll find it very helpful with all the trip-planning details. You are correct that all backcountry camping in Glacier is in designated backcountry campgrounds—you reserve each night’s campground and take any unoccupied campsite when you arrive in it. Glacier does that to reduce impact and create a safer environment for camping, which includes food-hanging cables at each campground, so you only have to bring stuff sacks for hanging the food.

I think you’ll find that e-guide is thorough. Good luck planning your first Glacier backpacking trip. It’s an amazing place.

Always good to hear from you. Keep in touch.

Hi Ian, good question about whether you pay for the walk-in backpacker sites at Many Glacier; I don’t recall whether we did, and I just scanned the park website for an answer, but found no clarification. Call or email the park’s backcountry desk to find out. Maybe you can reserve one in advance and have the cost covered in your backcountry permit.

I don’t have more advice on getting the permit beyond what you’ll read in this story: https://thebigoutsideblog.com/10-tips-for-getting-a-hard-to-get-national-park-backcountry-permit/.

Include multiple itinerary options, such as reversing direction, flexibility on dates if you have it, starting midweek, and alternative campsites. Good luck.

Hi Joshua, great question. See The Itinerary section above, it notes that there’s a campground at Many Glacier Many Glacier for car campers, which has campsites reserved for backpackers who have a backcountry permit. We camped there; it was really the only option, but we were happy to grab a real dinner and beers at the motel across the road, which has pretty good pizza and pasta.

Have a great time, Bill. You’re hiking in a beautiful area of the park.