Photographer recounts harrowing Park traverse

Tardy but no worse for the wear, Glacier National Park rescue crews plucked a man from the wilderness May 25 at Upper Kintla Lake after he was five days late on an ambitious backcountry journey.

Photographer Richard Layne, 59, was attempting a long trip from Bowman Lake to Brown's Pass past Hole-in-the-Wall basin and over Boulder Pass. He started out from the Polebridge Ranger Station with a 100-pound pack on May 10 and planned to be out by May 20.

Layne completed the most difficult part of the journey.

"I made it through," he said in an interview last week. "It was very extreme."

The carpet cleaner from Helena has done several long winter backcountry excursions in Glacier Park and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. In 2006, he climbed up and over Ahern Pass in winter. But this latest journey was "10 times" worse, he said.

"This one takes all my trips and makes them look like a cakewalk," he said.

On several occasions, avalanches swept near him, one within 30 feet.

"The kind that grinds bodies into bits and pieces," he said.

Layne set anchors and safety ropes while traversing the landscape at Hole-in-the-Wall. Twice he fell over backwards and was saved only by safety ropes. He said he wished he'd had a chest harness, which would have kept him from falling on his back.

He said he made it through "experience, equipment and unadulterated (expletive) luck."

But on day 16, he knew the Park Service was going to come looking for him. He had an agreement with his wife that she would call them if he was five days late. He said he still had plenty of food and supplies to get out and was just about two miles from the trail at Upper Kintla Lake. His only regret was that he didn't have a two-way radio so he could communicate with his wife that he was OK.

With poor weather expected to close in, Park rangers contracted with Minuteman Aviation to fly Layne's route. They spotted human tracks going over Boulder Pass and in the afternoon found Layne, waving his red jacket at the helicopter.

He still had about 26 miles to go before reaching his car, but most of that was by trail or the Inside North Fork Road, which is currently closed to vehicles.

Layne was uninjured but very tired.

"The Park Service did the right thing. My wife did the right thing. I did the wrong thing," he said.

Park spokeswoman Ellen Blickhan said this is at least the second time Layne has gone on an extended backcountry trip in Glacier Park, only to come out later than his itinerary.

"This is not the first time that Layne has been reported overdue," ranger and incident commander Gary Moses said in a press release. "We are very glad for the successful resolution of the search and that Mr. Layne was uninjured. While he nearly completed his intended trip, the number of days he was overdue, the route itself through extensive avalanche terrain, the approaching weather front and his history prompted our immediate response upon notification from his wife."

Park official have no plans to file charges against Layne. Layne had scouted the route several times earlier this year and in the winter months before attempting the May trip. The mountaineer had nothing but praise for the team that rescued him.

"What an incredible bunch of people," he said. "They were impeccably professional. My hat is off to that bunch."

Layne narrowly escaped death on his trip over Ahern Pass when he slipped on a steep slope and saved himself by self-arresting with an ice ax.

He also attempted a multi-day journey through the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in winter but abandoned the trip after dozens of days in the field because a snowshoe broke a binding.

For more information on Layne, visit online at www.richardlaynephoto.com.