At the end of Wayne's and my float down the wilderness portion of the South Fork of the Flathead, the portage around the top half of Meadow Creek Gorge about did us in. By the time we were done we had hiked a dozen or so miles carrying awkward loads using less than state-of-the-art packs. We were pretty tired, but lucky...
A nice fellow from California was parked near where we dumped our gear, and he agreed to haul us the two miles down to the Cedar Flats put in. So after a brief rest Dave DeRuysscher helped pile us and our gear into the back of his truck and off we went. Thanks again a bazillion, Dave! And come visit any time.
The Cedar Flats access trail is short. It is also steep. Because it sees a lot of traffic, the Forest Service has built a lot of steps in it to make it easier to get down. We were pretty beat but we got our gear schlepped to the bottom. We set up the tent, cooked dinner, and hung the food. Then we crashed.
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| Wayne Descending the Cedar Flats Access Trail |
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| Camp at Cedar Flats | Evening at Cedar Flats |
The next morning we were pretty beat and took our time getting breakfast, packed up, and off on the river. While we were still getting the sleep out of our eyes the first set of day trippers arrived down the access trail, in this case two guides with the Spotted Bear Ranch. They hauled in two big already blown up guide rafts, coolers, and I'm not sure what else. An hour or so later their clients arrived, all tricked out as expected. Then followed three other private groups of people in rigid sit-on kayaks for a day of fishing.
My thirty year old book had indicated this stretch of river was perhaps the more wild part of the whole river, given the popularity of the float through the Bob. That was clearly no longer the case. With the exploding popularity of fly fishing; the exploding population of Kalispell, Columbia Falls, and the Whitefish area; and the increase in domestic tourism as a result of global instability, this stretch of river is now used pretty regularly. I'd suspected as much after seeing the activity when Dona and I drove up to set the shuttle, but wanted to float it anyway.
We set off down the river at our usual leisurely pace, fishing as we went. We weren't doing particularly well, and it was disappointing. At one point I slipped on a rock and got soaked, so I stripped, put my waders back on, spread my clothes on the top of my gear to dry, and continued on.
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| Fishing the South Fork Flathead below Cedar Flats |
A few miles down the river we came to a great campsite. It was earlier than our usual stopping time, but it was a dynamite camp so we stopped. There were springs above the rocks on the other side of the river, and there was the constant sound of dripping water from that side. A large pillar of rock stood in the middle of what would be the river at high water, although at this level it was on our side. We had a nice sandy spot for the tent, and shade for a nap.
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| Weeping Cliff | Weeping Cliff Camp |
Our slow pace meant the days' traffic was ahead of us, so we saw no other floaters. We had a restful nights' sleep and a quiet morning, then headed off down the river.
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| Wayne Resting By Rock Pillar | |
By mid-afternoon the Spotted Bear footbridge came into sight. It marked the end of our journey. We floated the half-mile or so down to the floaters' access site and I hiked back up to the ranger station to retrieve the truck.
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| Spotted Bear Footbridge | Wayne on Spotted Bear Footbridge |
We stopped in Hungry Horse for a milkshake at the always crowded during tourist season Huckleberry Patch. On the way home we retrieved Wayne's truck from the Pyramid Pass trailhead, then had a bite to eat at the Moose River Bar and Grill in Seeley Lake.
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| Pyramid Pass from the road to the Trailhead |
All in all, a fun trip. But this was not a "trip of a lifetime" fishing trip. Depending on your points of reference, the fishing was ok to satisfactory. We caught a lot of fish, but their size was disappointing. From the few we ate, their taste was delightful. They were fat and frisky. It is a well-traveled river, both on the water and on the trails along its banks.
The scenery in the Bob is something you have to grow into. The mountains are generally not spectacular like views of the Tetons or Glacier, except perhaps over on the east side looking at the upthrusts of the Chinese Wall and similar outcrops. And you don't get those views from the South Fork.
The wildlife was disappointing, as it has usually been for me in the Bob. I generally see much more wildlife in the lower elevations around the place I live. We saw a few deer, but no elk, no bears, no cats, no fishers or martins or wolverines. A few birds, but no sandhill cranes, no loons. I'm sure they are all there, but not easily accessible or common along the well-used river corridor. That's not surprising, given the amount of traffic on the river and the fact that there are heavily-used main-line trails on both sides of the river.
This page last updated on 2015-07-16.
