Upper Missouri River 6 day trip report

[OnionMan]

Hello,

I’m a new member here but have been lurking for a bit. I wanted to post a report from my recent 6 day trip down the Upper Missouri River in Montana on my inflatable Red 12’6” Explorer and point out what worked and what didn’t work for those that might be planning a longer paddle.

First, a little background; I’m 42 years old and 5-10/155. I have a fair amount of experience backpacking, climbing, and sailing, both racing and offshore. I just started paddleboarding this spring, wishing to use it as a way to get on the water without having to be confined to a kayak (too many shoulder injuries to name and a kayak does nothing but aggravate them).

My buddy and I originally planned to take a canoe down 149 miles of the Upper Missouri Breaks in Montana. But upon taking my paddle board out on it’s initial “shake down” cruise in the local bay, I decided that the SUP was the only way to go. When I called our outfitter (they rent the canoes/kayaks and arrange to pick you up or transport your vehicle at the end of the trip) to tell them that we would not need a canoe because I was going to use a paddle board, the lady on the phone stated, “I wouldn’t recommend that,” but gave no explanation. With that warning I began actually doing research on the trip and came across Scott Mistrezat who did the ENTIRE Missouri River on his SUP. I believe I found the link to his trip on this forum. I reached out to him and he gave me excellent beta on using an SUP on the Missouri. With that taken care of, I was ready and determined to go.

Our original plan was for me and my buddy (using a kayak) to go 149 miles from Fort Benton to Kipps Landing on river. We left Fort Benton on a Sunday and had a glorious 20 mile paddle down the river (there is a 3 mph downstream current). On Day 2, we were introduced to the infamous upriver winds that the Missouri River is known for. Again we made 20 miles but it was not glorious (more on that later). Day 3 put us into the White Cliffs section of the river. It is absolutely stunning. It was here that we met two couples traveling in canoes who took pity on our ultralight set ups (freeze dried food, jetboil stove, no camp chairs or alcohol). They convinced us to slow down and enjoy the trip. At that point we decided to do smaller mileage days and take out at mile 88 (Judith Landing). It was a good decision as it gave us time on the shore to explore the numerous sandstone formations and canyons and allowed us the opportunity for spectacular hikes. Six days later we hauled out at Judith Landing.

Here are some things I learned about multi-day SUP trips in general as well as some things specific to the Upper Missouri Breaks.

1.) First, my setup. On my board I carried approximately 35 lbs of gear and 3 gallons of water (my buddy carried my other 3 gallons in the kayak-there is limited potable water on the river and the river itself cannot be filtered). I carried two Ortleib dry bags, a 59L and a 35L. I also had a spare kayak style paddle and an MSR water bladder. My kit consisted of the standard lightweight backpacking set up with just a little extra weight (specific SUP gear and more food than I would normally backpack with).
      As for SUP gear, I carried a K-pump, Red repair kit, Clam seal, 40ft of nylon rope, a life jacket (required), a spare fin, and extra deck rigging. I rigged my entire deck with bungee cord from my local boating shop. This proved helpful as it gave me several options for storing gear. If necessary, I’m convinced I could have carried my entire 6 gallons of water in bladders as I had plenty of leftover room on my board.

2.) It is necessary to have a “system.” I mean a system for storing, loading, and unloading gear. Because a paddle board has a fin, it is difficult to haul up onto shore without putting pressure on the fin, thus most of the loading and unloading is done in the water. By limiting my bags I could load and unload my board in minutes. The less things you have stashed on the board, the less you have to worry about.
      I am still working on some kind of "system" for quick access to items needed throughout the day on the board. I kept everything in my front 35L drybag that I might have needed. It was a pain to open and close that just for a snack.

3.) A kayak paddle is an absolute must! Because of the nasty headwinds, I spent almost the entire 20 miles on the second day sitting down on my board and paddling it like a kayak. It handled surprisingly well. Although it didn’t cut through the waves like a nice needle nose kayak would (I got soaked with waves coming over the bow), it did have the advantage that when I rested from paddling it turned fin first into the waves and wind. This might not seem like an advantage because you are facing backwards but compared to my buddy who almost got rolled several times when his kayak went beam to wind and waves, it was nice. I will never do an overnight trip with out a kayak paddle on board.

4.) I started with a Black Project Race fin which I love for coastal paddling, however after the first day it was getting chewed up in the shallow sections of the river. I took it off and used the stock Red fin which is a flexible plastic with a shallower draft. This worked nicely as I didn’t have any regrets when I grounded out in the shallow areas or when I loaded and unloaded the board in shallow water. The fin just flexed and bent.

5.) My Sea to Summit paddle gloves worked great, especially on the “kayak” day.

6.) Like sailing, everything just seemed to get wet on this trip. The baby powder I brought was a godsend and kept me from getting “river rot.” Also good to use when coming of the board and switching to hiking shoes. A bit on the feet dried them right up before putting them in socks. A Rite in the Rain pad was helpful for tracking mileage, etc.

7.) Things I would have liked to have brought: Less clothes (didn’t need a puffy jacket or insulating layer), camp chairs, whiskey, playing cards. I also would have liked to have brought a small wind meter. We used to use them when I raced sail boats. It’s a small mechanical tool that measures windspeed. I did bring a small weather radio but was only able to get a weather station on the first night out of Fort Benton.

 8.) The Red 12’6” was fantastic. Sturdy and durable. It stayed rock solid the entire trip and I never felt like I needed to add air. (I originally pumped it to 18 psi I think). It handled the headwinds as best as it could and was a pleasure to paddle down wind. I was able to sit, kneel, and stand with ease during all conditions which is nice for stretching and changing positions during the longer paddle days.
     One thing I was worried about were varmints eating through the rubber overnight. I don’t know if I was being paranoid, but I’ve been in places (Bugaboos, White Mountain in the Sierras), where you have to put chicken wire around your car so that the marmots and/or mice don’t chew through your hoses. I had zero problem with this on the Missouri but I would be interested to hear others’ thoughts for using inflatables in other areas where this might be a problem.
     Additionally, the Red was easy to transport through the airport as its bag is top notch. I flew with only two bags, the Red paddle board bag (which when packed with the board, paddle, and some other gear, stayed under 50 lbs), and my North Face Base Camp Duffel.

     9.) No matter how you do the Upper Missouri Breaks, do take time to stop and explore, especially in the White Cliffs Section. It is a special place with tons of hiking.
 
    Overall, I feel that wherever you might be able to take a kayak/canoe, you can take a SUP. Standing up, I felt like I walked down the Missouri River!

    Once again, thanks to Scott Mestrezat for sharing his experience. Also to Julian at Greenwater who sold me my Red board.

Here are some pics from the trip.

[robon]

Nice trip and thanks for the break down, and pics. Beautiful. Great trip. There are some river systems in Alberta that have scenery very similar to this and I really need to get a trip planned for the prairies. Thanks for reminding me.

I bring a two piece kayak paddle with me on overnighters, and it's not a bad idea for distance paddling either. I have encountered headwinds that are pretty nasty, but I don't like sitting down or going to my knees to paddle unless i'm exhausted, and making zero headway. While a kayak paddle is useful for headwinds, I have it mostly for peace of mind in case of a broken paddle.

Bungee cord works well, but cam straps work better for cinching down gear securely. With Bungee cord I have found that going with a larger diameter and cinching it down tight works well for most situations, but your gear may still shift when it gets really rough. A combination of straps and bungee works well and then you can have items that you need more often under the bungee to get at quickly.

For murky, silty/muddy water, you can use Aluminum Sulfate, or Alum to clear the sediment. Once clear, you can run the water through a filter and/or add purification drops or tablets or just take your chances.. A wilderness first aid instructor gave our class that tip after he ran out of water, and another group was using this method to filter their water on a muddy river system with great success. This is definitely a viable option if you don't have kayak or boat support. I'm fortunate enough to do most of my paddling in mountain lakes and rivers that are pretty clean most of the year.

A "system" is useful and something I'm working on. I'm just not very organized but separate my cooking gear and food from my living and sleeping gear. One big bag for sleeping bag, tent, sleeping pad and clothes in the back, and smaller bag for food, and items I want up front. I try to separate fuel from food incase it spills and keep things like bearspray and fuel in plastic bags to keep the mess as minimal as possible.

I haven't encountered critters munching on my dry bags yet, but it can happen. Around here, it's porcupines that like to eat brake lines and rubber, so it's common in higher elevation areas for people to chicken wire their vehicles in parking lots. Haven't heard of it happening to paddlers on trips, but I could see pack rats and other critters chewing on stuff. The trip I just did had bear lockers at multiple campsites along the way, so you could store a lot of stuff.

[OnionMan]

Robon,
Thanks for the input. I do need to explore cam straps as I am planning a coastal trip soon and will have to deal with rougher water. Do you run the cam straps through the plugins on the deck? The ones on the Red board are kind of small and they are plastic (somewhat a concern of mine. I never knew about Alum, but I think the Missouri has tons of farm runoff so it still might be sketch to drink. As far as the varmints, I'm worried about them chewing the rubber on my inflatable board. It seems like it would be tasty to them!

[lucabrasi]

Yes. Very nice. I like the way you broke all down as well. Thanks for the nice post to give me more ideas.

[supthecreek]

OM.... great post, and welcome to the Zone!

Nice trip, great pictures.... what a fun way to enjoy the scenery.... and I like the "slow down... look at everything" approach, after all, it's the trek, not the milage.

Funny, the things we don't know about when we live on the coast.... like rubber eating varmints in parking lots....

[7rivers]

Great trip report and nice paddle on the Upper Missouri. I love that place! Coincidently I just recently spent a week on the lower Missouri (with a bunch of friends including Scott Mestrezat who was paddling a canoe!) with my Red Paddle Co. Explorer. Like you I had a blast. I am used to doing some pretty long multi-day trips in my kayak but was my first long hit out with my SUP. It could not have gone better. For anything 500 miles or under I cannot see myself using anything but my SUP.

I had similar set-up, tarp, MSR stove etc. I had a portage dry bag on the front and duffel dry bag on the back. To overcome having to break into my big bags during the day I used my Seal Line kayak deck bag to keep snacks and high use items to hand. It worked a treat. I had my water up front as well in MSR dromedary bag.

I carried too much stuff still - laptop, camera gear, town clothes, food (ate in small towns a lot) etc. But still no problems. Wind up a couple of days but nothing too bad.

I used NRS cam straps to cinch my gear down tight. As the Explorer has plastic loops I decided to glue on some NRS d-ring patches for big bag on the front. I used cam straps on the plastic loops at the back without problems. Was just sure not to crank down too hard. Worked great. NB. Rumour has it that a bunch of the 2016 Red boards will have metal d-rings. Perfect!

Images below to see my set-up. You can see the d-ring patches I added and the deck bag. Sorry for the giant images. Had a heck of a time figuring how to embed images into this post. First time!

[Green Water Sports]

Great write up OnionMan, glad the board worked out for you.

[SupPadre]

Epic trip and a great write up.

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

Great trip. I really like the idea of multi-day SUP trips. Thanks for posting.

[woodsupchuck]

Great report....This trip has been on my list of things to do! Thanks for the reminder and the photos and information!
Couple of questions....
Could you have avoided the winds by paddling early morning and evening hours?
What was the river flow? Was it low water due to drought conditions or just time of year, or would you always encounter shoals and sandbars? 
I'm also considering buying an inflatable and never thought about varmints before, although I have had squirrels chew through dry bags, a bear bite a hole a raft once, and Kea's (Alpine Parrot) eat a bike seat in New Zealand so I guess it's possible!
Also wondering ...were you happy with the 12'6" board or would a 14' board been better suited to carrying gear?
Thanks again for the post..... Cheers, Chuck

[levity]

Very scenic!

any more pics you can share?

[SUPcheat]

Interesting trip and terrain.  Thank you for posting your advice and travelogue.

[OnionMan]

Great report....This trip has been on my list of things to do! Thanks for the reminder and the photos and information!
Couple of questions....
Could you have avoided the winds by paddling early morning and evening hours?
What was the river flow? Was it low water due to drought conditions or just time of year, or would you always encounter shoals and sandbars? 
I'm also considering buying an inflatable and never thought about varmints before, although I have had squirrels chew through dry bags, a bear bite a hole a raft once, and Kea's (Alpine Parrot) eat a bike seat in New Zealand so I guess it's possible!
Also wondering ...were you happy with the 12'6" board or would a 14' board been better suited to carrying gear?
Thanks again for the post..... Cheers, Chuck

Woodsupchuck,

Some answers to your questions;
1.) I'm sure on many days you can avoid the winds if you leave early enough but the days that we had heavy winds it was windy through the night so it never let up. We usually broke camp at 0800 every morning. I did not notice too much change in the winds throughout the day.
2.) The river flow I believe was about 3 mph. It was noticeable and on light wind days, you could just drift. The river seemed low to me. I know that part of the country did not get a lot of snow this winter. Especially the first day out of Fort Benton there were numerous places where I would have to get out in ankle deep water and drag my board a bit. Throughout the trip I came across numerous areas where it was extremely shallow creating a small rapid. These are easily noticeable from a distance and caused no real problems. I did wear river shoes while I was paddling.
3.) I was totally satisfied with my Red 12'6" and actually had plenty of more room for gear. That being said, as I mentioned, I packed super light (coming from a backpacker/climbing background). However I could have easily loaded more gear if necessary. I think a 12'6" is great for that river. Anything bigger would have seemed cumbersome to me. Remember, you have to haul it out each night, load it up each morning, in the water, against a 3 mph current. Sometimes, if the river is running fast it is a pain.

Also 7Rivers, nice write up on your Missouri trip. I checked out your page. Wish you the best in your endeavors. I'm sending you a PM as I have questions about your rigging set up with the NRS patches. Need to get a more stable set up on mine for coastal and bay work. The plastic attachments and bungee worked good on the Missouri but it was never really "tested."

[woodsupchuck]

Hey Onionman,   Thanx for answering my questions....I will definitely plan for some wind and shallow water...
Just ordered a 12'6" ULI for doing trips like this so great to hear positive feedback about touring with a board that size.
Also enjoyed seeing more pics of the area....the rock formations are awesome!    Paddle on.....Cheers, Chuck