The Missouri Breaks

A clear night gave us a VERY cold morning at about 5c only – I could see my breath when I got up about 6:30! Everyone layered up to keep warm as the stun began to rise. About 9am the wind picked up again and never really let up all day.

This was a ‘Shuttle Day’. We were about to head off on an 8-day wilderness paddle and need to get our trucks and boat-trailers down to the Fred Robinson bridge for our ‘take-out’. That meant a long day’s drive and about 10:30, Kris, Merle and Chuck left on the 6-hour driving day.

This is the weekend featuring Fort Benton Days, and for better or worse, this canoe camp on the Missouri River is located directly adjacent to their town’s fairgrounds. One of the more curious and distinctly American events at the grounds was the Tractor Pull! For hours we listened to the wild screaming and over-reved engines pulling their loads. The day was capped off with fireworks downtown. We were all well in bed by the time they started, but I did get up and the impressive show was just visible over the river downstream.

Our shuttle crew returned in good time, and our slow day continued. The day did, however, give us time to sort some of our gear for the coming 8 days of paddling through the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument – operated by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Nature Note – There are lots of poplar and cottonwood trees along the riverbank, and when the wind blows they have a distinct ‘clicking’ sound. I recall that sound first when I was 17 years old and working for the Beveridge family on a cattle and horse ranch in the Cypress Hills. I remember being out on that prairie, riding herd, and listening to the quiet and gentle tapping in the background as I looked out over the expanse. To this day, that sound brings me a kind of joy.

Nature Note – One of the women from the biker group camping next to us stopped by for a chat. During that conversation, she showed us photos of the fish they were catching downstream. Something they called a Paddle Fish ( Polyodon spathula). This is a prehistoric looking fish that is totally cartilaginous (no bone, only cartilage). One of the photos she had showed a Paddle Fish that was well more than 100 lbs and longer than 4’! She also had photos of catfish that ranged from 40-50 lbs.