We paddled from Fort Benton MT to Fort Kipp in the 3rd week of August. (2
people, 1 canoe)

I discovered that yes, there IS poison ivy in MT.
(but met a druggist on day 6 who gave me enough prednisone to dry it up!)

The water levels were fine - though we did go aground twice because we
weren't watching carefully. no problem getting back into the current,
besides wounded pride.

Nitrates in the water make it not completely safe even if you filter it, so
we carried 20 gallons. At Coal's Landing there was a BLM campsite, free,
with out houses and potable water. The nitrates also put a white stain on
skin and fabric, and it doesn't wash out of fabric.

By law we had to rent a chemical toilet, because our pollution is so much
worse than the millions of cows peeing and pooping in the river.

We encountered very few mosquitos, but for several days there were biting
flies, easily controllable with deet.

On the last 2 days, we encountered gnats - that got worse as we finished the
trip. By Fort Kipp, they were buzzing our heads so thickly that we had to
wear bandanas around our faces to prevent inhaling them. A wonderful BLM
camp person/host/ranger - told us that Avon's Naturals vanilla body mist is
a very effective repellant, and right before I mentioned that my avon lady
wasn't exactly accessible, she lent us a bottle of us, saving our marriage
and vacation. GNATS? - VANILLA!

On days 2 and 3 we chatted with and eventually camped with a group of 4
local couples who fed us 3 meals! They pitied us our freeze dried supplies
when they were feasting on antelope steaks, blueberry pancakes, and chili
verdi. Oh, poor us!

In Fort Benton there's a lovely original Hotel building right on the river
that I think would be a great place to start the trip next time - it's been
restored and looks really nice, though I didn't check it out any closer than
a drive by.




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