Propane may have sparked pack string mishap

The Daily Inter Lake

A pack-string accident that injured an outfitter Tuesday in Glacier National Park might have been related to a propane tank malfunction, but rangers are still investigating the incident.

The 60-year-old summer employee with Mule Shoe Outfitters was returning from Granite Park Chalet to the trailhead with supplies, including propane tanks, when the accident happened.

About two miles from the trailhead at the Loop on Going-to-the-Sun Road, mules in the pack string were apparently startled due to a problem with one of the propane tanks, according to a park press release.

The man, whose name has been withheld so his family can be notified, fell from his horse and may have been further injured when the mules bolted. Initial radio reports indicated that there had been an explosion of some type.

But rangers who responded noted that the propane tanks appeared to be intact, park spokeswoman Melissa Wilson said.

She said it's possible that there was a problem with a cap on one of the tanks, but no conclusions have been reached and the incident is still under investigation.

Two emergency room nurses and an emergency-room doctor who were hiking the trail helped rangers who responded.

Wilson said the packer was in stable condition when he was carried to the trailhead on a wheeled litter.

Traffic was delayed temporarily on Sun Road, allowing the ALERT helicopter to land and transport the man to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.