# Backyard Flathead river milk run



## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Lived here 20 years, never ran the flatwater fishing stretch that runs within 2 miles of my house.

Floated overnight with two childhood friends.

Decided I need to appreciate the more accessible runs instead of only seeking out big Idaho whitewater!


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## Big George Waters (Jul 2, 2021)

Could not agree with you more, besides there's nothing wrong with flatwater.
That's one beautiful boat you have there, hopefully lots more good times lie ahead for you and your pals


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

I used to think flatwater was boring, I don’t feel that way today.

thank you Big George!


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

MT4Runner said:


> I used to think flatwater was boring, I don’t feel that way today.
> 
> thank you Big George!


Flat water is not boring, unless it's in the middle of Grand Canyon lol


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

_If you stayed inside the swirl long enough, sooner or later you would discover that your deepest feelings actually bore little connection with the rapids, and were more directly linked to the peculiar magic that unfurled along the rivers tranquil stretches, the spaces between the pockets of chaos. For it was there, amid those interludes of stillness and silence, that the canyon and the river, and the dories merged together so seamlessly, so organically, that each seemed somehow incomplete without the other. And it was in those moments, too, that you realized, if you tuned in closely enough, and if you listened with your entire body, that the boats were vibrating, in tune with the harmonics of the river. Up thru their hulls, and their chines, and the shafts of their oars, they were continuously broadcasting a symphony of subtle little vibrations. In audible tremors that were an expression of the boats exquisite sensitivity. Their frailty of their deftness. And most of all, in the end, their grace. You could here that melody when the face of the water turned green and glassy as you slid across the laced and undulating patterns of light and shadow that shifted with the mysterious cadence known only to the river itself. You could attune to the song at the end of the day, too, when the sharp-edged silhouette of the dories were cast against the golden walls of the canyon, while the faces of those cliffs cast their own molten reflection down upon the darkening face of the river. But the music sounded best when you were asleep, rocking gently in the starlight, bobbing at an edge of the eddy while the night cupped the river in its hands. For Martins boatmen, the nocturnal singing of their dories was a canticle they never tired of, a thing they never outgrew. Years later, long after they had left the river, long past the point where they had bade their final farewells to the Canyon, that the music never fully faded. They can hear it still, and Martin can too, calling out to each of them in their dreams._ - Kevin Fedarko - The Emerald Mile


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Love your quote, but nonetheless furnace flats can be a royal SOB with upstream breezes lol


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## showme44 (May 13, 2013)

I was trying to make out the painting on the back of your boat. 
beautiful boat by the way.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

showme44 said:


> I was trying to make out the painting on the back of your boat.
> beautiful boat by the way.


thank you!!










Transom art:

Sunsets over Square Butte were a frequent view out my parents' living room window. 

The Stack was blown up in 1982, much to my 7 year-old chagrin.

Wheatfields surround the city and agriculture is still much of the City's commerce.

The Falls, from which Great Falls gets its name are now half-covered by Ryan Dam.

Charlie Russell was a western artist; Square Butte and "Charlie Russell sunsets" were frequently depicted in his art, and the bison skull accompanied his signature.


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## showme44 (May 13, 2013)

MT4Runner said:


> thank you!!
> View attachment 68905
> 
> 
> ...


Looks great!


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## Hoomalimali (Aug 19, 2021)

MT4Runner said:


> I used to think flatwater was boring, I don’t feel that way today.
> 
> thank you Big George!


I'm with you too, especially as I get older and slow down a bit.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Same run, older boats.









The "Teakettle" is an aluminum 1970 Rogue River Special by Rod's Custom Welding in Grant's Pass Oregon.
The mountain to the back/left is Teakettle...and behind the railroad grade was Columbia Falls Aluminum Company...smelting fumes at one time had denuded the mountain of all vegetation.

















The Makaha is a 1972 Grand Canyon dory by Mr. Jerry Briggs himself. She was in Martin Litton's second order of boats after the Emerald Mile in 1971.
She is probably the most original of the surviving 35 Briggs dories that Litton bought between 1971 and 1982.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Wow, one of the original Briggs survivors! What a treat to see...


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

She had a hard life her first 20 years, but had been in a warehouse since the mid-90's. Some repairs, but a lot of original ribs/sides/bottom.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

As my mentor says, build them, run them, wreck em, fix em, run em again wreck em again fix em again, a never ending cycle 😂....

In between me and Canyon voyages, my old boat bears ears has more damage probably than the emerald mild did lol


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Wow, one of the original Briggs survivors! What a treat to see...


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

One of the coolest things was sanding her deck and finding the old deck paint schemes through abrasive archaeology. haha


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Abrasive archeology, love it!


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## Hoomalimali (Aug 19, 2021)

MT4Runner said:


> Same run, older boats.
> 
> View attachment 70296
> 
> ...





MT4Runner said:


> Same run, older boats.
> 
> View attachment 70296
> 
> ...


 Makaha ~ R77
Aloha mai kakou


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

The home of big wave surfing…and now beachfront condos.

Makaha meant “Fierce” to the neighboring Hawai’ian tribes


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## duct tape (Aug 25, 2009)

Have surfed there many times, but on much smaller days!


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Saw a bear early morning that October trip. I thought black bear. Just showed the pic to a biologist friend. I was wrong.










Here’s how close:
Track was in the sand to the left.
You can see my sleeping bag behind the dogs.


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