Upper Missouri River in MT
 

hubby and I are leaving IL for a 10 day paddle trip down the Missouri this
month and are wondering - now that we are finally going to camp in an area
that allows camp fires - will we have a lot of trouble finding firewood? If
so - does anyone have any tips for finding wood? I would also appreciate
any advice or tips any of you can give me to make this trip more memorable
for us. (having a finite number of opportunities where we can practically
do the wilderness vacation, and an infinite number of destinations to
visit - we'll never again do this particular trip and want to take as many
precautions and make as many plans as we can to make it good!)

Cindy

Upper Missouri River in MT
 

will we have a lot of trouble finding firewood?

Allthough I live very near the head of the Missouri, I have not paddled it, and
do not know for certain, but: All the rivers I have paddled around here seem to
have an abundance of driftwood, and it should be dry these days. The weather
has been quite dry the last few weeks, and campfire restrictions may be in
effect (fires were banned accross the entire state a few years back). The
availibility of firewood may be entirely different if you are headed up to the
remote northern part of the river. What section are you doing?

Dennis

Upper Missouri River in MT
 

replied privately


"Paddlec1" wrote in message
...
will we have a lot of trouble finding firewood?

Allthough I live very near the head of the Missouri, I have not paddled
it, and
do not know for certain, but: All the rivers I have paddled around here
seem to
have an abundance of driftwood, and it should be dry these days. The
weather
has been quite dry the last few weeks, and campfire restrictions may be in
effect (fires were banned accross the entire state a few years back). The
availibility of firewood may be entirely different if you are headed up to
the
remote northern part of the river. What section are you doing?

Dennis

Are you doing the 150 mile Wild and Scenic stretch from Fort Benton to
US191? We ran it in 6 days, in early august. It was very hot (90s
all week) and there were lots of gnats.

If I were going again, I'd consider september.

We took our own firewood, because we didn't know what would be
available. We were cooking on a little wood stove. I don't remember
much wood being available.

I'd definitely take a cook stove.

There was a BLM office in Fort Benton. This was in Aug 92, though, so
try to find out. They have good maps, and pointed us toward a
shuttle. Our car was delivered to the takeout on time, and was there
when we arrived.
Even though the maps show rapids, around cow island, they were nothing
more than a riffle.
The local water is awful, very alkaline. probably ok for cooking.
Carry as much as you can. The river is very silty, so not a real good
candidate for filtering, unless you can let it stand.

Dan