Montana's Flathead River
From the rough white water on the North and Middle forks to the calm lower river below Lake Flathead itself, the Flathead covers a wide range of paddle adventures. Nestled in between the cities of Kalispel and Polson Montana, the large expanse of Flathead lake compliments the river's central section with beautiful granite shores and a smattering of islands that offer some awesome views. The Lower Flathead river roars out of the lake cutting a deep gorge through bedrock, then settling down to a winding watercourse. In the summer of 2005 Travis and I debated all the multiple-day trips the river offered. We finally settled on the lower section. We expected a few class one rapids, beautiful views of the mountains, and Montana's famous clean water. We weren't disappointed.
Our journey begins...Journal entry July 17, 2005, 10 AM. We start our journey in the town of Dixon, picking up our shuttle driver Pierre. Pierre works out of The Wild Plum Restaurant and Store there in Downtown Dixon. He's a cool guy, he put up with being wedged in the back seat under a ton of gear, guided us through lots of back-road Montana and even made sure we were leaving the car in a safe place while we were on the trip. Above is Travis' car across the highway from from The Wild Plum. Some gear is thrown out to make room for Pierre. We stuffed it back in on top of him later.
Below, more of Dixon. Travis and Pierre cross the street to check things out.
An hour's driving later and here we are at our put-in on the Flathead. This bridge is just below Kerr dam and is the take-out for boaters who just drop the class II and III rapids below the dam.
Below, a good look at the afternoon breezes on the Flathead while we untie. It's still a warm day in the 80s and we're starting in the afternoon when breezes are most common. With sunset around 10 PM and really no hurry to get any place in particular we don't mind the late start.
Here we're starting to load up the boat. Uh, there's a little bit of gear here. We're traveling in a Wenonah Odyssey, a boat specially designed to haul a ton of gear and since we're not sparing any luxuries on this camping trip we need it. Also, Travis had this boat decked out with a spray cover so we can get the lower half of our bodies out of the weather and keep our gear tucked in.
Pierre backs away. There goes our car, our last link to civilization. We're really trusting this guy now! Pierre was not only an excellent shuttle driver, he provided a wealth of information about the local permits required, the places to camp and things to look out for.
Our first break along the river. A little bay about 3 miles downstream from the put-in:
