By Courtney Wilton

Seven of us (three in hard shells and four in pack rafts) had the privilege of boating Montana’s Middle fork of the Flathead River on a self-support basis in late July of this year. Per American Whitewater, “this is the multi-day Wilderness run of the Flathead River National Wild and Scenic River. It begins in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, traverses the Great Bear Wilderness, and the take-out is on the southern border of Glacier National Park.” We covered 32 miles over four days from Schafer Meadows backcountry airstrip to the small community of Essex.

*The Crew from L to R: Bruce, Lynn, Katie, Courtney, Carol, Denny and Dale.*

The trip starts out with a bang with a short, but exciting plane ride from Kalispell to the put-in. Four separate flights were required to carry our group and gear. The planes are small (Cessna 206) and get pushed around a bit by the up and down drafts but the flight is beautiful with great views of dense forest and mountains. The landing feels like something out of an Alaska bush pilot movie. From there you lug your boat about ¼ mile to the river.

How was the water? Montana had a good snow year but unfortunately for us also a warm June and July. By the time we got on it the water level was very low, 900 cfs on the gauge. American Whitewater says 1,000 cfs is the minimum. True confession it was crazy low at the start and we all did a bit of walking and lots of bumping the first five miles. The bumps continued throughout the run but it got better and better as more water came in from side creeks, especially Granite Creek at mile 11. But it was a constant issue and we all became adept at finding channels when entering shelf sections of the river, of which there are many. A group putting on before us a few days made the mistake of launching a raft. After what must have been four awfully difficult days, they reportedly abandoned ship so to speak, walked back to airport, flew home and hired an outfitter to pack out their gear via mules. Expensive mistake. We had some challenges bumping along, but really were fine in kayaks and pack rafts, notwithstanding a few pack raft leak repairs.

Given low water, was it worth it? Absolutely. Again, per American Whitewater: “Overall, this is a spectacularly wild run with gin clear water, grizzly bears (be sure to hang your food), and eagles. It often feels like snorkeling from a boat because there are so many fish and the water is so clear.” That’s an accurate description. It’s stunningly beautiful and also feels very isolated, because it is. We saw one other group on the river. Four of our group also saw a grizzly bear on a side hike one afternoon. It was about 300 yards away and didn’t seem that interested in our group, but marked a good place for them to turn around and was also a good reminder that this wasn’t your normal day run. We all hung our food away from camp at night and carried bear spray in our tents, and thankfully had no drama.

Were there any good rapids? Actually, yes. There were lots of what I would consider short class 3’s which weren’t pushy but still pretty challenging given boniness. There was also what probably is considered a solid class 4 given a move was necessary and one side had a nasty sieve. The Spruce Park rapid series over a few miles was probably the most significant and fun. Lynn Bufka took the lead / was our probe on most rapids and Dale Davidson set safety and swept on the big ones. Thank you, Lynn and Dale.

How were the group dynamics? They were fine. We had a very capable and congenial group so really no issues on or off the river. Three grumpy old men including myself drove over and back together and the combination of constant togetherness and strong opinions made for some interesting and in retrospect comical moments. But we basically tolerated each other’s eccentricities and worked it out.

Would you do it again? Yes, I highly recommend this trip. There are costs involved due to flight, shuttle and gas, but if you’re willing to camp along the way and act like a dirtbag kayaker you can easily keep them under $1,000. You also end up about thirty miles from the Glacier National Park west exit so a side benefit is you can easily do a day trip from there if you are willing to get up early and arrive at the park before the 6:00 am reservation deadline. This run is spectacularly beautiful and so is Montana! Thank you, Katie Eicher, for the original idea and for taking the lead in planning.