The logistics were simple, which was the point; park at the city airport in Kalispell, pay Red Eagle Aviation nearly $700 to fly us into Schafer Meadows on the Middle Fork of the Flathead, then float back to town. At least to West Glacier, as that is the first place you can get both ice cream and cell service, and perhaps all the way back to the mouth of the Stillwater River, at which point we could jump up onto Lower Valley road and a ~2 mile walk back to the car. We packed food for 8 days, and in any eventuality would have a simple 3 hour drive home, a welcome bit of ease compared to (for instance) last Augusts drive back across the wastes of central and eastern Washington.

This plan worked very well, especially when a rainy and windy morning down the canyon to West Glacier saw everyone soaked and cold, so we packed up, got pizza, and called an Uber, beholden to nothing save our own satisfaction. Significantly, no child proclaimed boredom the whole time, and no one swam (though I came close piloting the big boat, sans passenger, down one of the cruxes in 3 Forks, and Bear got bucked hard in one of the bigger waves that final morning). In fact, it was only on what turned out to be that final evening that an inquiry was made as to when we might be returning home.

Beyond everyone simply enjoying themselves so easily the highlight was, easily, Bear piloting the Curiyak (black boat, above) down the overwhelming majority of the trip. Beyond him being tall enough, key mods were thicker seat (what Alpacka now calls a standard seat) and a shorter paddle (220 cm Werner Baja, cut down to 187cm, with 6 of those cm from shortening the blades). Paddling clicked for him this summer, and the last 2 months saw a rapid progression on sections of the Blackfoot, and when he cruised Roundup to Coricks a few weeks ago and plainly wishes there was a bit more action, I knew he was ready.

The final highlight was being reminded of how insanely good the whole Middle Fork is, especially at low water, with the rapids constant and engaging, the scenery exceptional, and the boat traffic almost nonexistent (until the final 24 hours). I’ve paddled all these sections, many 6 or more times, but never in one go, some quite a while ago, and in the case of Essex to Cascadilla, never at low, clear water, which showed far better than I was anticipating. None of us have left the state (Yellowstone and the Tetons don’t count) since March, and with all this so nearby, there is no hurry to do so.