Would You Do This?

Well, would you do this? Would you take a canoe to the headwaters of Missouri River there in Three Forks Montana, get in it and say I think I will paddle this thing to Saint Louis Missouri? Well, that is what this week’s guest on the Montana Outdoor Podcast is doing! So, here is what happened, the Captain of the Montana Outdoor Radio show is out on Fort Peck Reservoir (big shocker there right) and he comes across a guy in a canoe that has been paddling down the reservoir. His canoe is packed, and the Captain gets curious and strikes up a conversation with this guy whose name is Bryon. Bryon tells the Captain that he started in Three Forks and is on his way to St. Louis. That is like 2,450 miles! That’s gonna take a while! Heck, it took him over 6 days to paddle Fort Peck alone. So, the Captain calls your host Downrigger Dale and says “hey you got to call this guy, here is his cell number”. So, Rigger calls old Bryon and hits “record”. Gang, you have GOT to watch or listen to this podcast! It is fascinating and Bryon, well he is a real character! So why is he doing this? Is he raising money for something? Nope. Is trying to bring awareness to some cause? Nope. Is he trying to break some kind of record? Nope. You need to watch or listen right now cause only Bryon can explain this and make it make sense…sort of. What is Byon’s last name? He didn’t think it was any of Riggers business. We could go on and on here. But it’s just better if you watch or listen for yourself. As Rigger put it; “I don’t know why but I just love this guy! What a character!”. And here is the thing all the fishermen that have come across him from Three Forks to Fort Peck and we are sure where he is now, all say the same thing, AND they all give him water, fish and all kinds of other things and Bryon has yet to ever ask for any of that stuff! Ok, enough just go watch or listen to this podcast you will be glad you did!

Links:

• Sorry, we still don’t even know Bryon’s last name let alone a website link or email!
• If you have any questions or thoughts about this podcast or ideas for future podcasts click here to email your old buddy Downrigger Dale.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

You know, every now and then we run across a few folks that well do interesting stuff. And I got one on there with me right now. His name is Brian. Brian, you're on quite a trip. Where are you at right now?

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Right now I'm at the dam at uh Fort Tech, waiting for a shuttle ride around the dam.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Okay, so now the reason you got to get around the dam is because you're doing what?

SPEAKER_01 0:25

I'm following the whole Missouri River, uh from Three Forks, the headwaters, down to St. Louis, if God is willing. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Okay, so you started in Three Forks. So far you've made it all the way down through the Missouri, and then you what? Did you paddle all the way across Fort Peck to the dam?

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Yeah, that that's been a stretch. So it's been about six and a half days, and it's finished with uh with some white water and big rollers and a little bit of a little bit of courage to get across this morning.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Yeah, I was just gonna say Fort Peck can be a little cranky sometimes, and you're uh how big of a uh canoe are you in? Fifteen foot. Fifteen foot. Is it like a just a normal 15-foot open canoe then?

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Yes, I I have some deck covers, cloth deck covers that were definitely uh needed because the a few of the waves rolled over the top. Oh my goodness. So water but uh the the deck covers did a good job and dispersed that water.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

So how much how much water did you get in the canoe or did you get any in?

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Um yeah, I got some. I got one in my lap. I'm glad it was only one. Uh that was a wake-up call, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

My goodness.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

It worked.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Yeah. So how how long do you think this is gonna take to go from Three Forks to St. Louis?

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Uh judging on other people's blogs and information that I have, I'm I'm guessing I should be done about mid-August. Mid-August. Wow. Yeah, it's it's it's a long, a long haul. I think that's the uh what makes it an adventure. I'm I'm quite used to camping and canoeing, right? Just not not for an entire summer on one trip.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Now what made you decide to do this? Well, I I recently retired and I wanted a an epic canoe trip because I've I've been canoeing all my life. Wow. And a canoe trip just seemed like the way to um start retirement, and so I began researching long canoe trips. And you found one. This one was uh probably the longest one I found.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Yeah, that's uh what Missouri is technically the longest river in America.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Yes. Uh depending on whose uh count you go by, it's 2,450 miles.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Yeah. Wow. So um so where are you from originally? Are you from Montana? Nebraska. Nebraska. So you came from Nebraska up to Three Forks, yes, and then put in your your canoe and said, okay, here we go. Uh uh, we'll see what happens. That's exactly the way it is. So now where where do you stay when you're as you're traveling along?

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Well, I have all my camping stuff. So basically, wherever uh an uninhabited place along the river, I make home for the night.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Now, how has that gone for you?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Um good. I yeah, I have a decent tent. I've survived some pretty heavy rains. Uh paddled in the rain all day one day, just to stay warm.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Yeah. And how have the people been along the river as you're going?

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Um, that has been the fun part of this whole trip. Uh everybody has just been great. Uh had uh half a dozen fishermen uh stop and and um offer me water and fish and everything else.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Wow. Well, that's that's good old Montana hospitality for you. I it is very much. Yeah, I don't know if that's gonna hold as you go into other states, hopefully. Uh but that may be different. So um what have you been eating then, you know, during this trip so far, and what are you gonna continue to eat? I mean, you probably didn't pack that much food, I would assume.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Uh I have packed most of it. Really? It's a lot of uh kind of a mix of the uh commercial freeze-dried stuff, some homemade dehydrated stuff, and just grocery items.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

And then I suppose you can probably eat a fish or two along the way, as as you said.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Some of the I don't well, I don't actually have any fishing equipment.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

So okay. Well, that might be something you're gonna have to get. Um, so I do want to just take a brief moment uh to to welcome in a couple groups that that I always do on these podcasts that they're very special to us uh because well, one Montana per capita has more um uh active and and uh veterans um of anywhere, but uh that is welcoming in our active military out there. We've got a lot of some watching this podcast on their ships, several of them uh on bases all around the world and that. So uh thank you so much for your service and what you do, and of course, welcome to all of our veterans who love to take part in this as well and uh listen and and watch. So thank you for your service, including my daughter who's a veteran, and uh so glad to have her back home. So uh anyway, yeah. Um so you were you were saying this was something when you retired, you just said, okay, uh this is what I want to do. Um is there do you have any kind of formula for for how long you go each day, or do you just paddle till you're tired? Uh or have you kind of mapped out your stops?

SPEAKER_01 6:27

No, I definitely have not mapped out anything. Okay. Um, yeah, it's usually if if the weather's been nice and I've been able to paddle all day, it's just whenever I'm getting tired. Um on like say Fort Peck, it was more what the weather's gonna deal me. Right. Yeah. And I definitely had to work around that because it took a couple days longer than I anticipated just because of the wind.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

So to to yeah, because you're pretty much paddling the whole length of Fort Peck, obviously. Um so uh you said how long did that take you to get across all the way down to the dam?

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Yeah, six and a half days.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Six and a half days. How about for navigation? Uh, you know, when you get on a lake like that, um do you have any kind of navigation that helps you know?

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Yeah, Google Maps.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Uh Google Maps hook.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Yeah, yeah, it works. Thanks. Yeah, it it does. Thanks to my uh my son helping me preload that stuff. I I was unaware of how that works, but it's been working like a charm and puts my little point to show right where I'm at. So um so far that's worked out well.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

And is this the first time you've been to Montana or have you been up to Montana often fishing and stuff?

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Um I've been to Glacier and I've been through southern Montana, uh just kind of on a family vacation, no specific um destination kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Okay. So yeah, you you're getting to see you're getting to see a lot of Montana now. Uh oh yes. How about uh landowners? Have they any of them given you any trouble about where you're stopping, or do you usually find like a a fishing access site or something?

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Um I have not encountered any that I know of, so I I don't know what their reaction is.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Yeah, you probably won't. You probably won't have any problem. Most of them are are really good about that. Some of them get a little, you know, worried on, you know, start starting fires and stuff, but most of them, nah. They're they're good people, you know. They're they're all they all love to be out on the river, too. So uh in that case, you've got a very interesting story going. Um, and so you you live in Nebraska. Uh, do you have family there waiting for you uh in Nebraska? How old are you?

SPEAKER_01 8:56

I'm uh 60. And yeah, the family is family is following along on a GPS tracker that was. Oh, cool. Okay. It it uh maps me out every hour or something, shows where I am at.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

Uh-huh. And uh did it uh take some talking to get your wife to say, hey, this is a good idea, or did she think it was great?

SPEAKER_01 9:21

I asked her if she wanted to come along, she goes, no.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, uh, some some gals are really into it, but uh a lot of them don't like that much time out on the water, but you never know.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

No, I I understood her uh your response. It's my deal to do, right? So she's supportive of that. I'm glad.

SPEAKER_02 9:47

Yeah, so it so this was mainly just something you I mean, was it like uh I wanted to see if I can actually do this, uh, or what what uh was the the primary motivation? I know you just wanted you retired, so kick it off was something unusual, but was there any other kind of special motivation that said this is why I should do this?

SPEAKER_01 10:09

No, I I didn't really take it on as a challenge, but just as an ongoing adventure, just to kind of see what happens. Um I you know, I don't know if I'll make it to the end. We'll find out day by day.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

Well, you know, I hope you'll keep us posted along the way, you know, send us a picture or two. Um, I've got a few of your pictures that we're you know gonna kind of sprinkle in as we go along, you know, and talk here.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

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SPEAKER_02 11:22

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SPEAKER_01 14:08

Um one funny little story. So I I like I said I have a lot of camping experience and I'm always kind of uh bear aware, and I knew that some of the areas that um in the upper section here would um potentially have some bear activity, but I I hadn't seen anything until uh I forget the area, but it was in a an established campsite. I saw a bear. And that just made me think, I think I'm gonna stick to the wild camping. Stay away from the established areas because that's where the bears like to hang out.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Yeah, yeah. Uh so they what what kind of a bear was it? Was it black bear or do you know?

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Black, yeah, black bear.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Okay. And as far as the the uh other wildlife that you've seen along the way, anything in particular that's um stood out to you besides the bear?

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Well, I I've enjoyed the birds. I I must say I I can't begin to identify them all, like I'd like to. But um, yeah, the birds have been wonderful. Yeah, and and I I will include in the in the wildlife count the little mouse that crawled under the door while I was in the outhouse at one point.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

He was just like, hey, I just want to say hi, see what was going on. Yeah, yeah, he just stuck his nose under the door and yeah, there the the the uh waterfowl and just you know uh birds of prey and that in general in Montana, especially uh right along where you're going, are pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

And I I I I've seen like um osprey chasing eagles, which are chasing hawks, and they're all fighting over a fish that they just caught or something. It's uh yeah, just the the daily nature struggles.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Yeah, that's that's the thing there is uh uh you you see wildlife in its in its very, very true form there as far as uh uh nature takes its course, whether you like it or not.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

It's been great. It's been great. I really enjoyed it all.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

Have you been able to track about how many miles you cover in a day?

SPEAKER_01 16:41

Um my tracker does, but I I don't have direct access to that. So it's been anywhere on the free-flowing river. I had one day that I think I made 30 miles. Oh uh, and other days, you know, much less.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Yeah, well, and and the Missouri, you know, you don't run into a uh really much of any kind of heavy, you know, fast moving water, do you?

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Or well, in the upper section, yes. Well yeah, I guess. Oh my goodness, coming out of out of um Holter Dam, that was all very fast, and then all of a sudden the whole river would go into class two rapids. Okay. I wasn't expecting that many of them, but there were just uh a whole series of them, one right after another.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Yeah, I forgot, yeah, right at the the the beginning of the the the Missouri, yeah. That that does get a little western, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Uh that was fun.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

Yes, I I imagine you're probably through most of that, I would think. Um now what when will be the next spot? Do you know uh uh where you're gonna have to to portage around again?

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Um that'll be Chicagoia Dam. Right, that's what I figured. Okay. So yeah, I got a good long spell before I have to do this again.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Right, yeah, and then uh Chicago wea, that that's another big lake.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Oh, yes. They just keep getting bigger.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

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SPEAKER_01 20:41

If it's if it's not weather related, it's just um I like to I I'm an early riser and I like to have some time in the evening, afternoon to relax. Sure. So uh yeah, it gets to be mid-afternoon. I'm I'm starting to look for a campsite.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

And as far as water, of course, obviously you don't want to just drink right out of the Missouri. Uh that's not one of those rivers you want to do that if you don't have to. Do you have like any kind of water purification that you use?

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Or uh I have some with me. I have not had to use it yet. I have a lot of containers which I'm loading in the boat as we speak. Oh, cool. Um but um yeah, I was running low in uh Fort Peck, but the uh the fisherman I spoke of kind of came to my rescue on that, so I have not had to treat any water yet.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

That's awesome. Uh that is awesome. So um what would do you have any advice for um folks that might want to try this? I mean, you you you're fairly early in your trip, but yeah, I mean you've covered quite a few miles here. Is there anything that you would advise people to to uh do or not do when they when they want to try something like this?

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Well, uh do a lot of research um and and just I guess soul searching as to how long you think you can just keep going. Um that seems to be the challenge for me is uh I've never been out this long. Yeah. Um with just you know continuous camping. So that in and of itself is a challenge. And uh just all the other things that come with it, the wind, the the large waves, the the rain. You know, you name it.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Yeah, now when you uh when you say go near a you know a a town or a city, do you ever get kind of tempted to say, I think I'm gonna get a hotel tonight?

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Yeah, that that is that is in the possibilities for sure. Especially especially as I get uh along. Um you know, a a shower would feel really nice instead of a river bath.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

Uh huh. Okay, yeah, I can see that. Yeah. Well good. Um so this kind of a adventure is something that I I would think when you're done with it, uh you're gonna want to, you know, probably tell more people about it, maybe do a book or anything. Have you thought about that at all?

SPEAKER_01 23:20

No. Um I'm I'm not that public on it.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

Okay. All right. Uh and how about just dealing with the fact that you know you're you're you spend a lot of time with yourself. Uh you know, some some people uh can handle that, but you know, that that can wear on you too, just not having any anyone else to talk to. How how has that been for you?

SPEAKER_01 23:47

I think we'll probably be more of an issue, or maybe not an issue, but just more obvious. Um I mean I I greatly enjoy conversations with people. Um you know, brief or uh ongoing conversations, but um uh we'll have to see how it wears on me, you know, after a couple of months. We'll see. Oh yeah. See if I see if I pull my hair out just uh talking to myself.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

Well, all right. Well, you know, uh there was a couple guys that did this uh before you by the name of Lewis and Clark, and uh, you know, they they seem to come out of it okay. Uh they were gone uh quite a spell as well.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

Uh but I I often think of them as I'm going just thinking it's so long, it's so far. And I know I have a map in front of me. I know how far it is, I know how long it is. They had no idea.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

Exactly. They didn't know you know what what they were gonna see. You know, I I've often thought of them. I I I love the history of of Lewis and Clark, and I've often thought back in the day that that was kind of the equivalent of sending somebody to the moon.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

Yes, very much.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

You know, you just complete unknown. You have no idea what you're gonna see, what's gonna happen, and all that. So they've blazed a nice trail for you, but you you are in some really good company, uh and and uh retracing some incredible footsteps of what those fellas uh did, and and uh and certainly the the reason you kind of know where you're at is because of them.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Yep, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Well, you'll have to you'll have to lift a toast to to Lewis and Clark every now and then. And you know, if you start getting crazy, you can just talk to them like they're sitting there with you.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

They can be a good guide, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

Oh yeah, without a doubt. All right, Brian. Well, um, I won't keep you any longer. I know you got lots of stuff to do, but uh I I sure appreciate you spending some time with us here on the Montana Outdoor Podcast and and just telling us about what's going on. And uh if you if you want, you know, feel free to call us or text uh pictures or or just let us know how you're doing anytime. And and we're more than happy to do. We we have uh viewers and listeners from you know all across the United States and really around the world. And we now have regular viewers in 80 different countries. So if you need us to do a shout-out for you or anything like that, you let us know and and we'll do it.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

All right, this has been fun.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

All right, Brian, thank you very much. You be safe out there and and keep in touch. And I I I can't wait to to uh congratulate you when you hit St. Louis.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

Sounds good to me. Thanks a lot.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Take care, my friend.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

All right, bye.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

There you have it. There is uh Brian, and he didn't want to share his last name with me, um, but that's okay. Uh it was just one of those things where the captain uh of the uh Montana Outdoor Radio Show, if you listen to our Saturday show, he uh he called me and he said, Hey, I I ran into this guy out on Fort Peck, and he's just paddling along and he was telling me what he was doing, and you know, here's his number, you ought to call. And so that's what we did. Uh and I'll tell you, if any of you are ever thinking about these kind of adventures, let us know. I I would love to do it. And uh, if uh any of you are along the Missouri River, uh keep an eye out. Uh, you uh uh here, I'll put a picture of his canoe back up again and a picture of him again. Keep an eye out for that guy and uh be sure and hand him some water and uh if you got an old fishing pole, maybe hand that to him too. Uh because it this is just pretty amazing what folks will do. If you've ever done anything like that, let me know. We'd love to have you on and talk with you about it. So that is just one of the things that you could do this summer if you wanted to get out and about. You be careful, be good to each other, and remember, always be kind to those guys in the canoes. You never know how far they've traveled. We'll see you next time on the Montana Outdoor Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Thanks for watching the Montana Outdoor Podcast. You know, there's no way we could do this podcast without the incredible support of sponsors like Superior Hardwoods of Montana, home of the largest selection of in-stock, high-end wood products and flooring in the western United States. Let them guide you through the woods at superior-hardwoods.com. And of course, Rocky Mountain Truck and Trailer in Missoula, home of both snow plows and accessories, and diamond sea trailers and accessories. Go see them on the web at rmtte.com. We'd love to hear what you thought of this week's podcast. When you get a minute or two, shoot us an email and tell us your thoughts. Same goes if you have any questions for rigor or this week's guest. Just send your questions or comments to Downrigger at MontanaOutdoor.com. Hey, don't forget we should be dropping a new podcast this next Saturday. Until then, gang, we hope to see you soon out in Montana's great outdoors.