Opening Day---May 10th, 2008
If Major League Baseball can have it, so can we--Opening Day! After a long cold, wet winter my first day on the river for 2008 is in the books. Saturday the 10th myself, Mat and Mat (yeah that's right only one "t" in both names---crazy I tell ya), and Lindsay headed down to the Blackfoot River for great day of paddling. Running near 3,700 cfs we put in at Russell Gates ( a first for me) and ran the 18 miles to Corricks' River Bend--in all honesty, it was a quick 18 miles.
The first section to Roundup offered nice season warm-up Class II rapids with some nice wave trains spread out along the way---we caught sight of an Osprey, Golden Eagle and a Bald Eagle. When we reached the Class III rapids at Roundup there was a whitewater rescue course practicing their skills, and although I urged our members to become live bait, we had no takers. In fact, Mat B. and Lindsey both flipped in the rapids, and even had the nerve to roll up--I swear I could see the disappointment on the faces of the rescue class...so much for practicing real rescue moves!
My main goal of the trip, besides getting a break from reality, was to not get wet (besides my drytop of course). And if there was one goal the other Mat had it harkened up the old Kent Ford ( I think it was Kent's) book or video--"Catch Every Eddy, Surf Every Wave" (except one should replace "Eddy" with "Hole"). Mat, in his first paddling trip in two years (apparently helicopter pilot training with the Army doesn't allow for much kayaking)
didn't miss a beat as he was pretty much vertical at every opportunity.
We cruised through the rest of the run with no problem and was off the river by 4:30----a great way to spend five hours if I do say so myself.
After meeting in Missoula for dinner we headed our separate ways. I was tossing around the idea of snagging a hotel and kicking back, but the allure of the North Fork of the Blackfoot was too great, so I headed for the North Fork trailhead near Ovando and drove deep (relatively speaking of couse) into the southern reaches of the Bob Marshall smack dab in the Scapegoat Wilderness in the middle of the night. As I neared the trailhead, the snow on the road got deeper...too deep for me to safely continue. After a restless night sleeping in my suburban, I awoke to a cold, rainy morning. Paddling the North Fork alone is not a smart thing to do, so I instead settled for a nice hike/scouting trip, and was rewarded by incredible scenery (if you can overlook the lasting affects of the 1988 Canyon Creek Fire). On my way out, however, I came across fresh big cat tracks, which sort of hastened my trip along.
(click the thumbnails to enlarge)
NF of the Blackfoot Cougar Tracks
After crossing the divide I still had plenty of time, so I thought a quick trip to the Upper Dearborn Canyon, north of Bean Lake, would be a fun experience and opportunity to scout out a new run for my near future. The Dearborn did not disappoint, I found myself hiking much further than I had originally planned, and I also found myself scaling 20-30 ft. cliffs, making daring river crossings, and acting like the boy that I have never grown out of--great experience, and I am headed back up to kayak that this month!
Dearborn River
If opening day gives any clue to the nature of the paddling season (albiet short in Montana) that's in store for me this year, I am giddy with excitement!
