Hey y'all,

This is only my second post on SummitPost- I posted once about a trip that wound up falling through. Anyway, I'm planning an off-trail backpacking trip in Glacier National Park this summer. I want to mirror or walk along the continental divide from the boulder pass trail to Jefferson Pass, up onto the ridge between Redhorn peak and Gyrfalcon lake, and past trapper peak back onto the mcdonald creek trail. Trailhead to trailhead it's about ~40 miles, 12k elevation gain, with ~25 off trail if I start at Goat Haunt and end at Packer's Roost. Here's my question: do any of you know if it's possible to get into the Dixon Glacier basin from Lake Francis without roping up? From the topos and pictures it looks like there might be a steep but safe way to avoid the sheer face that the waterfall flows over, but it's hard to tell. Alternatively, has anyone gone from the boulder pass trail up to lake 6690 just east of The Guardhouse? If either of those two routes are possible, it would allow me to skip climbing up and wrapping all the way around Thunderbird Mountain to get to the Guardhouse and down to Jefferson pass. In other words, it would make it easier for me to get from boulder pass trail to the saddle between the guardhouse and porcupine ridge.

Also, have any of you all had any experience with any sections of this route that I'm thinking about, or do you have any input? I'm an experienced wilderness backpacker and scrambler, but I don't mess around with technical climbing aside from crampons and an ice ax for steep snow. I also have relatively little bushwhacking experience for the amount of off-trail travel I've done, which is making me a little bit nervous for this route. (I've mostly spent time in dryer, higher ranges like the winds, the sierras, the wasatch where bushwhacking isn't as much of an issue. I've been to glacier before but it was with my girlfriend who is a relatively weak hiker, so we stayed on trails.)

Hmmm...

1) I'm sure there is a class 3 way into the Dixon Glacier basin. I've never been there but see plenty of options in photos. Getting from said basin to The Guardhouse looks like the hard part to me. That part looks f***ed.

2) I don't know anyone who has been to Lake 6690 but that seems like a MUCH more reasonable alternative route around those mountains.

3) If you're gonna try this trip, I would strongly consider just wrapping around Thunderbird and then continuing on from there as is documented in the Climber's Guide. People do that route. Not often, but they do it. At least you'll know it's there. This trip sounds plenty challenging and obscure without pioneering some even weirder way through that area. Keep in mind, that might be the least visited area of the whole park, and that's really saying something.

4) As far as bushwhacking in Glacier, just remember - it's not the bushes that will kill you, it's the cliff that you fall off of because it was hidden by bushes and you didn't see it. Bushwhacking down a route that you didn't come up is particularly dangerous.

Cheers

Thanks for the reply!

You're totally right about the Dixon Glacier basin. Looked at the map again, really should have looked at it more closely before I posted. Might be a fun place to spend a night, though. I wonder how many people it sees in a year.

Thanks for the advice about the route. Makes sense, although I'd also be kind of excited to explore a small uncharted piece given how many of the routes in Glacier have been mapped out and beta-d by Edwards. The bushwhack reminder is also always a good one. Probably makes sense to start on the McDonald Creek end instead of the Boulder Pass end so that the bushwhack from the creek to Trapper and Gyrfalcon lake is uphill. Anyway, I'm actually really glad to hear that this one of the least visited parts of the park. Definitely looking for solitude (aside for my partners) and to get off the beaten path a little.