Adventures for Wilderness, Milk River Canoe Adventure – Jun. 18-25, 2022
June 25, 2022
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Text and photos: Lindsey Wallis
Led by Lindsey Wallis
Our group of eight adults, one six-year old, and two dogs set out from Aden Bridge on the Milk River. It didn’t take long for us to run aground on the numerous sandbars along the braided channels. In fact we may have walked our boats more than we paddled that first day. Well, not quite, but we certainly had to get out and dislodge our canoe from sandbars more times than I could count. Despite a brief but intense thunderstorm as we set up the tents the evening was glorious and calm, with the fiery prairie sunsets that I love.
The following day, we paddled in a heavy drizzle to our lunch spot where we were lucky enough to have the rain stop and clouds lift as we hiked up a coulee, through a smattering of prairie wildflowers and one very cold rattlesnake that my daughter discovered. We also were treated to a badger mama poking her head out of her burrow and keeping a watchful eye on us as we passed, and a prehistoric oysterbed with thousands of fossilized shells. Our camp that night overlooked the river and was overlooked by two adult Prairie Falcons and their four fuzzy, voracious babies.
Despite some rain during breakfast the next day and threatening skies all day, the storms seemed to pass us by. We said goodbye to Katie and Connie at the Pinhorn ranch, the last current human settlement we would see for the next four days. Once again we found a camping spot along the river bank near a grove of cottonwoods and sunk into the now-familiar rhythm of setting up camp and cooking a meal. It was beautiful to see a healthy river here, the channels allowed to meander back and forth so the cottonwood can seed and grow in the wet silt. There were loads of baby cottonwoods here, as well as more mature ones and the grandmother trees, standing tall and gnarled some distance back from the river.
The next three days the weather was glorious. We hiked and paddled through badlands with dramatic cliffs and ridges with spectacular views of the valley, and blue skies with perfect, fluffy, cottonball clouds. Day six was a relief as we had chosen to not pack up camp but to spend a day hiking to an old oxbow lake and to an igneous dyke where volcanic material had pushed its way up through the sedimentary rock millions of years ago, creating a formation that looked like a stegosaurus perched on a hill. There we also found what were were later told was part of a dinosaur rib bone. It was the first day of summer and we swam in the river. It is up for debate whether we came out of the silt-filled river cleaner or not (the lack of clarity in the water from the suspended silt brought down by rains from the surrounding valley sides is what gives the river its name) but it sure felt perfect to sit in the river on a hot summer day.
Our final full day on the river the wind picked up and made paddling a challenge. We were lucky to spy a big Bull Snake swimming across the river just in front of our canoe, as well as a herd of elk and a moose. We stopped at an old ranch and visited a grave of the wife of the ranch manager, who died in childbirth in the late 1800s. Today it is still a wild and isolated place and I am thankful for the SPOT device I carry in case of an emergency. One could still easily die out here before help could be found.
We made camp near the US border and wandered up one last time into the coulees to explore giant pipes that channel water down from the uplands to the river valley and discover more oyster beds and prairie flowers. One last time the skies opened up on us (thankfully after we had made camp for the night) and the prairie thankfully drank in the much-needed moisture. It was disappointing to see a profusion of Russian Olive along this stretch of the river, near the edge of the Milk River Natural Area that we had been paddling through for the last few days. It is an invasive species and is crowding out the young cottonwoods on many stretches of river here.
On the last day of our trip we discovered that that first day had put one more twist in our plans as our vehicle was not where we had expected it to be. Luckily it was only a few more river miles downstream and the weather, though windy, was sunny and warm. After loading up all the gear we enjoyed one last picnic lunch near the river and I was surprised by one last, gigantic rattlesnake (the fourth we had seen on the trip). A shower and our own beds were certainly welcome that night, but the great company and spectacular nature made the adventure a fabulous success.
