I finished yesterday evening shortly after 11 p.m. My partner Hayden wisely bailed earlier yesterday with 23 miles remaining.
Carrying 50 pound packs, we started the first day following the majority of folks up the CDT, before dropping down Bear Creek to Alice Creek Road. We then spent much of the afternoon following the public/private boundary to sidehill over to the Landers Fork and take the Lone Mountain trail up to Heart Lake for the night. The second day we dropped into the East Fork of the Blackfoot, followed that down to the North Fork guard station, and then headed up the Dry Fork to camp just before the divide. Day three we crossed into the Danaher, where Hayden decided we should try to put on earlier to make up some miles and take some weight off of battered feet. Ultimately this resulted in some serious hike-a-boat as we encountered an obscene amount of deadfall. So we took back out, portaged another mile downstream, and put in about five miles above Camp Creek, and were met with friendly and enjoyable floating conditions. We then made it to the confluence and continued to Big Prairie for the night. Day four we floated the remainder of the South Fork to the Meadow Creek takeout, where I took a swim on the last pinch/constriction before the takeout. We made the portage over to Harrison Creek and began an involved bushwhack back down to the South Fork. About half way down a squall rolled through that brought quite the deluge and we watched as six trees fell in rapid succession around us. So we hightailed it out of there, and put on the creek just above the South Fork for a fast and bony ride out to the river. We then floated to the Billy R. Garrett bridge, where we lost light, and slept under it, which was definitely the pro move because it proceeded to rain all night. By day five we knew we needed to make up some miles, so we started early, wrapped up the remainder of the South Fork, and into the Hungry Horse reservoir. Flat-water paddling can be a real pain, so we put in an effort for about six miles before deciding to bail off to the east road and walk the remaining distance to the Logan-Dirtyface trail and pass over to the Middle Fork of the Flathead.
There had been a reasonable amount of suffering up until this point, especially given that Hayden’s feet weren’t much appreciating the heavy loads we were carrying. But that all seemed trivial once we began the climb. Keep in mind that this trail is labeled as primary-use by all available maps. Initially the trail was very amiable, only getting somewhat overgrown as we hit the snow line and neared the pass. The pass was beautiful, looking down into the greenery of the Middle Fork valleys. We started down, and lost the very faint trail about a mile from the top. Naturally, at this point it began snowing. We were able to find it after some searching, but it had clearly not been maintained since the 20th century. And it just kept getting worse and worse as we lost elevation, getting to a point where the remaining five miles were a hellish test of endurance and perseverance. This was only further helped by losing light, constant rain and a plethora of fresh bear sign that was only a few hours old. I’ve had more than my fair share of bushwhacking, especially along the Swan Crest on older logging roads, but the Dirtyface ‘schwack was a special sort of ruthlessness. Would not recommend to anyone, ever. And it also included a creek crossing sometime after 1 a.m. that was ripping at 20+mph and would have been insta-death if we slipped. We crashed down to the Middle Fork sometime after 3 a.m., soaked to the bone, to find a sloping cobble bar to set up a shelter and shiver bivy for the night.
We woke up the next morning, still reeling from the beatdown, to find that the river had dropped a bit, to a level that appeared a lot more manageable. So we put on, with me picking my way through the splashier sections. Eventually we made it to just above the “daily” section, where I opted to portage to avoid the class four sections. We made it to West Glacier that evening to an early campsite to ineffectively try to dry out our soaked everything and assess damages thus far. We then got up early for the seventh day, with ~65 river and lake miles remaining to the finish. The first 40 went without hiccup, albeit with some degree of tedium, until we reached the braids and meanders south of Kalispell. Admittedly I had neglected to check the gradient of this remaining section, assuming foolishly that there would be flow until just before the lake. Boy was I in for a surprise. The river effectively stops 20 miles before the lake proper. Hayden, being of sound mental standing, decided to head for the road and call it instead of enduring a nauseating amount of flat-water paddling. I however, stubbornly, was more hesitant to quit, after already traveling 230 miles. So I began paddling at 4pm, unsure how far I would get, but determined nevertheless to try until my sanity returned or I injured myself. At 8:30 I made it to the Sportsman’s Bridge just above the lake, sure that I was ready to bail. But for some reason even I cannot comprehend, I opted to descend into the sixth circle of suffering and continue the last 7.5 miles out and across the lake to Wood’s Bay FAS, arriving at ~11:10pm, after almost 25 miles of flat-water paddling.
I decided to attempt this rather ridiculous and heinous route this year as a more aesthetic variation to the direct path to the finish, having struggled to find inspiration in the face of a jungle of private property, paved roads or endless dirt road walking. Thus the idea to use the South, Middle and Main Flathead rivers as pathways to Flathead lake. Plus, I’ve wanted to do a route from Rogers Pass to West Glacier for a number of years now. ~255 miles in total; 175 miles floating and 80 on foot. This makes the fourth Bob Open I’ve completed, (including last year with my girlfriend) and also the longest route I’ve completed to date! The Open will continue to be one of my favorite trips of every year.
Long live the Open.
ps: I’ve neglected to pay for the BPL membership in the past. I am based out of Choteau, and if anyone is ever looking for a partner for some clowning, I am always looking to get out.
