THE UPPER MISSOURI

The Upper Missouri is a special river in a special part of the US. It is wild, remote, and above all spectacularly scenic. Fortunately, it is also a National Wild and Scenic River and has been well preserved for us all to enjoy.

It is also special to me, because it is the first river on which my wife and I canoe camped together. You couldn't ask for a better river on which to practice this arcane art.

The Upper Missouri flows through the spectacular White Cliffs area of Montana and was thoroughly explored by Lewis and Clark on their historic expedition to the west coast. They remarked on the spectacular rock formations, which include intrusive igneous dikes so straight and uniform they look man made and extensive white cliffs that have eroded into thousands of intricate statue shapes.

There are no rapids, although you will see some marked as such on the excellent river maps you can get at the ranger station at Fort Benton. The "rapids" were shallow, swiftly flowing sections of the river that could ground a riverboat. They pose no danger to canoeists. There are dangers, however. Due to the remoteness of this area, any serious accident could result in a long wait for treatment. There are rattlesnakes in the area, although we didn't see any. Try to avoid the numerous herds of cattle that come down to the banks to drink. And above all, bring plenty of water. You'll drink more than you think you will.

We paddled this river in mid-September. The weather was perfect, except for a 20-knot head wind the first day. It was sunny, warm, but not too hot. In mid summer it can get broiling hot and there is no potable water available, so drinking water is a precious commodity. At least a gallon a day per person should be carried.

We put in at Virgelle, which is about 42 miles downstream from Fort Benton, MT, an historically interesting frontier town. At Virgelle is an old general store that has been converted to an antique store and canoe outfitter. You can rent an old cabin to spend the night in or stay in antique filled rooms above the store. The cabins are outfitted just as they would have been a hundred years ago, with no running water or electricity, a wood burning cook stove, a kerosene lamp and a privy out back. Primitive, but very romantic.

The fine folks at the Missouri River Canoe Company will arrange a shuttle for you, which is very important, because the roads back to civilization (your vehicle) are dirt and do not parallel the river. Our shuttle driver, Janet Henderson, arrived a few minutes early to pick us up and we had an interesting conversation for the two hours it took us to get back to Virgelle.

The first day of our trip took us through one of the most scenic stretches of river you will find anywhere. Unfortunately, we had a strong head wind and had to hug the banks to make any progress down river. Still, we paddled miles downstream and camped at a place called the Hole in the Wall, named after a rock formation visible from the campsite.

Although you can camp anywhere on public land, which is well marked on the excellent map we had, there are also a few campsites with primitive amenities along the river. This one had a few lean-tos and some privys not far away. We had it to ourselves, and took a nice hike up to some nearby rock formations before dark. The coyotes howling at the full moon after sundown just emphasized the remoteness of our campsite.

The next day we had a light tail wind and took it easy. There was plenty of time to observe the abundant wildlife along the river. I thought I caught a glimpse of an antelope bounding into a coulee. There are long-tailed magpies and flocks of ducks and geese. We also saw one party of canoeists and two powerboats. Stinkpots are allowed on the river but are supposed to travel at no-wake speeds. Unfortunately, this restriction was ignored by both powerboats we saw.

We spent our second night camped near a grove of cottonwoods on public land. It is inadvisable to camp under these trees, as they are brittle and tend to dislodge large branches in high winds. Judging from the many fallen limbs nearby, I believe it is a wise precaution not to camp under them. The next morning we climbed the bluffs behind our campsite and took in a spectacular view of the river valley.

It was a pleasant half-day cruise down to Judith Landing to meet our shuttle back to Virgelle. All in all, this was one of the most scenic and remote rivers I have ever paddled. Downstream from Judith there is a stretch of badlands to paddle through that sound interesting, but we didn't have time to try it.

If you plan to try this river, remember to bring plenty of sunblock, water containers, and maybe one of those recyclable panoramic cameras as there are scenic vistas around every bend of this river. There are also plenty of fish in this river, including walleye, catfish, sturgeon, and smallmouth bass, but you may be so entranced by the scenery that you forget to wet a line. You will find this to be one of the finest stretches of flatwater paddling anywhere.