One man, one canoe, six days and 137 miles
I started my 137-mile canoe trip on the Madison River last summer at Warm Springs, which is about 10 miles downriver from PPL’s Madison hydroelectric plant.
I started late in the day, so I only made 12 miles before I made camp at Greycliff. The surrounding terrain was an open expanse with few trees. The wind blew at my back the whole day.
The next day I woke at 5:30 a.m., cooked some bacon and coffee and was off. The river moved along at a good pace through the increasing cottonwood trees, and I only saw one person. I made the 19 miles to Three Forks by lunch.
I observed plenty of deer, a few mink, beaver, muskrat, bald eagles and red-tailed hawks. I counted 40 beaver dams on the 31 miles of the Madison River. The confluence of the Madison, Gallatin and the Jefferson rivers is beautiful and filled with animals around every bend. After Three Forks, the terrain changes to a dry and desolate landscape with no people. Here the Missouri is wide and slow, only moving me 2.5 mph. I camped on the bank of the big river around Fairweather, which ended a 30-mile day.
The next morning I was on the river at 8, and the wind was calm. I slowly drifted to my first reservoir at Toston. The reservoir was like glass as the trains passed by. I paddled five miles to the dam and portaged. I had to make four trips to get all my gear to the river.
After Toston, I began to understand why the old trappers called the Missouri “Old Misery,” because of the headwinds. I paddled my arms off to go downriver. At times the wind blew me upriver, so I was making slow progress.
I struggled to York Islands where I ended the 29-mile day by pulling my canoe downriver over two-foot whitecaps. I camped close to a bald eagle’s nest and beaver house, which didn’t make either occupant happy. The beaver kept slapping his tail at me as I sat on the edge of the river.
I was up at 5 a.m. the next day, brewed some coffee and paddled down the river in the mist. No wind for a change. I saw 12 beavers on shore, and after eight miles I hit my longest reservoir, Canyon Ferry. A headwind picked up at 10 a.m. and started blowing hard. I stayed along the shore and got pounded by three-foot whitecaps at times.
I paddled 13 hours and 23 miles and made camp in a sheltered bay, exhausted. I only saw one person in the last 82 miles of river. The next day I fought a headwind and made it 10 more miles to the dam. The following day, I picked up my buddy, Mike Taylor, below Canyon Ferry. Mike also works with me at PPL Montana’s Holter Dam, and he helped me paddle the rest of the way and brought some big steaks for dinner. It was a nice change from my diet of freeze dried food, which sustained me after I went through my cooler full of fresh food.
We made 22 miles and camped at the Gates of the Mountains. Paddling the last 17 miles against the wind, we ended at our homes at Holter Dam.
Access: Scott Doherty started his six-day, 137-mile canoe trip on the Madison River at Warm Springs. To get there, take Highway 287 south from Three Forks to Norris. At Norris go east on Highway 84 a few miles until you come to the river. The Warm Springs fishing access site is right where the highway and river meet. To get to Holter Lake where he finished, take Interstate 15 north from Helena to Wolf Creek. Follow Recreation Road to the river. Cross the bridge and take a right. Follow the road three miles to the lake.