I launched May 15th for 7 wonderful days (ok, some days weren’t wonderful) on the Smith. My trip was originally scheduled for May 13th, but I got lucky and was able to reschedule it for two days later (low water and some family issues). Afterwards, I planned to check out the Missouri for a few days but my 10 day MT trip somehow turned into a month and a half trip! I got home about 36 hrs ago - only to re-pack and leave for my next trip tomorrow. I think I will be home in early August. Or maybe not…
My Smith trip wasn’t originally intended to be a solo trip but it ended up that way when people couldn’t go and/or backed out for a variety of reasons: very low water, predicted bad weather, health, work, etc. I knew that one way or another, I was going even if it meant a solo trip. I have floated it before so I knew that it was within my abilities plus I am happy with my own company so I was totally comfortable with it being a solo trip. In the end, I had a great trip with no mishaps and I really enjoyed the solitude.
I launched at 138 cfs (which is really low). I took my 11’ cat with 18” diameter tubes for the added floatation. The weather bumped up the flows to about 240 at the take-out. I packed as light as I could but didn’t skimp on safety equipment and back-ups of critical gear. I hadn’t planned on hauling my boat on the car but @BDD stopped by just when I’d finished rigging it (to make sure I had everything) and he graciously helped me load it. Actually, he basically bench pressed it as I got in the way, lol!
I spent the night at the Helena boat inspection station so that I could get inspected when they opened at 6 am. I got some special swag for being the first one in line!
Since I had a short 4.5 mile float the first day, as suggested by the rangers, I arrived just as the last group was about to shove off. It was a beautiful day about 70 degrees with light W.
I was often joined by wildlife, like these elk at my fist camp, but luckily I was never visited by bears (and I took all the appropriate precautions).
The weather was good for the first half of the trip, with highs in the low 70’s. The caddis hatches were thick and fish were caught. I planned shorter days in the beginning of the trip so I got lots of fishing time in and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.
I also enjoyed the solitude and especially enjoyed slow starts in the morning. I am a night owl and river trip schedules always seem to get controlled by the early birds. So, I savored being on my own schedule and being able to relax by the river with an unhurried cup of morning coffee. I could fish the camp water before the other boats came through and then load my boat at a pace that ensured that nothing was forgotten and everything was loaded properly. I also kept things simple so setting up and packing up was easy. Here’s my floating “backpacking” style kitchen. I only used dehydrated food (PackIt Gourmet) and enjoyed the simplicity. I filled up with fresh water at springs when I could, using gallon jugs to reduce carry weight, and only had to drip-filter water once.
Most of the campsites were so gorgeous, it was hard to leave in the morning. Here’s my tent hidden/sheltered in the trees at one of my favorite camps:
Because the river was so low, bigger more heavily laden rafts had problems and most found themselves dragging their boats frequently. I only dragged twice, both times when I wasn’t paying attention to the channel. Most of the time, I could avoid dragging by shifting my weight forward and “Fred Flinstoning” it or just getting off the seat and walking inside the frame for a few feet. Often, when I arrived at camp, I found free firewood bundles, off-loaded by a raft that was tired of dragging through the shallows!
to be continued…
My Smith trip wasn’t originally intended to be a solo trip but it ended up that way when people couldn’t go and/or backed out for a variety of reasons: very low water, predicted bad weather, health, work, etc. I knew that one way or another, I was going even if it meant a solo trip. I have floated it before so I knew that it was within my abilities plus I am happy with my own company so I was totally comfortable with it being a solo trip. In the end, I had a great trip with no mishaps and I really enjoyed the solitude.
I launched at 138 cfs (which is really low). I took my 11’ cat with 18” diameter tubes for the added floatation. The weather bumped up the flows to about 240 at the take-out. I packed as light as I could but didn’t skimp on safety equipment and back-ups of critical gear. I hadn’t planned on hauling my boat on the car but @BDD stopped by just when I’d finished rigging it (to make sure I had everything) and he graciously helped me load it. Actually, he basically bench pressed it as I got in the way, lol!
I spent the night at the Helena boat inspection station so that I could get inspected when they opened at 6 am. I got some special swag for being the first one in line!
Since I had a short 4.5 mile float the first day, as suggested by the rangers, I arrived just as the last group was about to shove off. It was a beautiful day about 70 degrees with light W.
I was often joined by wildlife, like these elk at my fist camp, but luckily I was never visited by bears (and I took all the appropriate precautions).
The weather was good for the first half of the trip, with highs in the low 70’s. The caddis hatches were thick and fish were caught. I planned shorter days in the beginning of the trip so I got lots of fishing time in and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.
I also enjoyed the solitude and especially enjoyed slow starts in the morning. I am a night owl and river trip schedules always seem to get controlled by the early birds. So, I savored being on my own schedule and being able to relax by the river with an unhurried cup of morning coffee. I could fish the camp water before the other boats came through and then load my boat at a pace that ensured that nothing was forgotten and everything was loaded properly. I also kept things simple so setting up and packing up was easy. Here’s my floating “backpacking” style kitchen. I only used dehydrated food (PackIt Gourmet) and enjoyed the simplicity. I filled up with fresh water at springs when I could, using gallon jugs to reduce carry weight, and only had to drip-filter water once.
Most of the campsites were so gorgeous, it was hard to leave in the morning. Here’s my tent hidden/sheltered in the trees at one of my favorite camps:
Because the river was so low, bigger more heavily laden rafts had problems and most found themselves dragging their boats frequently. I only dragged twice, both times when I wasn’t paying attention to the channel. Most of the time, I could avoid dragging by shifting my weight forward and “Fred Flinstoning” it or just getting off the seat and walking inside the frame for a few feet. Often, when I arrived at camp, I found free firewood bundles, off-loaded by a raft that was tired of dragging through the shallows!
to be continued…
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