backcountry

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Backpacking with Kids! Highlight Reel!

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We had an awesome time backcountry camping with our group of three families and six kids at Kid Lake! We designed our Backpacking with Kids trip to instill confidence in families with young children who are new to backpacking in Montana. Here are some of the highlights that made our trip extra fun and family friendly:

Building Backcountry Skills

Before we set off hiking, we all took time to think about and share what we felt especially excited about and nervous about going into this overnight adventure. We practiced important skills, like map reading, together as a group to help everyone understand where we were and where our destination was for the night. Along the way, when our trail crossed from Montana into Idaho, we pulled out our map again to check out how much we had hiked so far and how much longer we had to go. Even though the hike may have felt daunting at first, everyone made it out and back and felt proud of what they were able to accomplish!

Yummy Trail Rewards

Setting goals and completing them was a great way to help the hike go by quicker. For example, when we made it up to the top of a big hill, or when we hiked for a full 15 minutes, we stopped for a break. On our breaks, we liked to take our packs off to rest our bodies, rehydrate by drinking lots of water, and eat a piece of candy! Our favorite trail reward candies are Swedish fish, life savers, and hi chews!

Teamwork

There are some tasks in the backcountry that are easier done with a friend to help! One of those is hanging a bear bag. On our trip, we wandered around together to find the perfect tree branch. Then we took turns trying to throw our rock-tied-rope up and over the branch. Finally, we used our combined strength to hoist up our food out of reach of any big and small creatures! Working together helped everyone learn how to hang a bear bag and made it much more fun!

Aug the Frog

We had a great time playing at Kid Lake. From the minute we arrived to the minute we left, the kids were always looking for new places to explore and new plants and animals to investigate. We even brought bug microscopes from the Montana Natural History Center to look at cool rocks and wildlife up close. When we reflected on what our favorite part of the trip was, the kids agreed that finding frogs in the water was the highlight! We named the star of the show (the biggest frog in the lake) Aug. We are excited to hike back to Kid Lake to see what Aug and the other frogs are up to next year!

We had an awesome group of families and kids on our trip. Everyone gained new skills and accomplished something new out in the Great Burn. We hope to make Backpacking with Kids a yearly trip, so reach out to us with any questions or ideas for next season!

Here are some more pictures from our trip. Check them out!

Update from the field: Kelly Creek Restoration Crew

During the last week of June, the GBCA backcountry restoration crew worked hard to treat sections of Kelly Creek Trail 567 for noxious weeds. They treated 4.5 miles of trail as well as additional acres in the drainage, and pulled 25 pounds of weeds. They also released 1,000 Chrysolina beetles provided by Nez Perce Biocontrol! Here are some highlights from the hitch:

The crew identified St. John’s wort, oxeye daisy, Canada thistle, tall buttercup, Kentucky bluegrass, meadow hawkweed, spotted knapweed, and houndstoungue in this area. Removal methods included hand pulling, spraying, and biocontrol to attack and prevent the further spread of these weeds.

The crew released 300 beetles into a dense area of St. John’s wort near Hansen Meadows. They released the remaining 700 beetles into patches of St. John’s wort around the middle portions of the glade in Bear Creek. Biocontrol is an effective weed removal strategy, especially in these areas with lush shrub, fern, and forb cover that make spraying difficult and unwarranted. 

This summer has brought many weather extremes for the weeds crew to work through, from snow to storms to heat. The crew dealt with all three on this last hitch. Because Hoodoo Pass was still closed due to snowpack, the crew drove from Missoula out to Pierce and Road 250 to get to the Kelly Trailhead. They began most of their field days very early in the morning to avoid hot afternoon temperatures in the 80s and 90s.

“A short break under a lodgepole treated us to a viewing of a rainbow arcing over Hanson Meadows. Yet another example of the serenity that you can experience when immersed in an area ”
— GBCA Backcountry Resotration crew members Chris Prange and Matthew Gomez


The crew spotted a pileated woodpecker, a cow moose, a group of elk and deer, and a young whitetail deer fawn on their hitch. They were excited to also spot Chrysolina beetles already on St. John’s wort plants in the Great Burn, particularly on the first mile of Trail 567 and below the Bear Creek outfitter camp.

The crew will be in the field until September. If you happen to find yourself in Kelly Creek, make sure to stop by and say “hi”!