Kootenai River Kayaking - Moyie River to Bonners Ferry

July 24th, 2006

Put-in: Twin Rivers Canyon Resort (confluence of Moyie and Kootenai Rivers)
Take-out: Bonners Ferry (under the railroad bridge)
Date: Late July 2006
Flow: 17,000 cfs
Duration: 2 hours
Equipment: Old Town Otter Kayak (9'6", recreational)

I'd paddled this stretch of the Kootenai River last October when flows were down around 6,000 cubic feet per second, so running it again in July gave me a new perspective. Besides being so much higher, the water seemed to run slower in spots, and there were no rapids to speak of. I also found the trip to be more relaxing because there were no submerged trees to avoid. However, whirlpools were a bigger challenge—any time two currents converged large whirlpools would form, which whip the kayak from side to side and could cause you to loose your balance. I found the best way to deal with these was to focus on the bow of the kayak—it's much easier to keep from throwing your weight out of balance.

This stretch of the Kootenai is very nice—only a couple of houses and cabins along the way, with most people building higher up on the bench due to the flooding that occasionally threatens the area despite the installation of Libby Dam in the 1970's.

Because it was such a beautiful day (mid-90's, sunny skies) there were a lot of people out at Twin Rivers Canyon Resort. I'd like to take the family there for camping next weekend. They have a swimming hole, the two rivers, and some nice play areas for kids. They charge three dollars to launch a boat from the banks.

The heat made it unnecessary to use the spray skirt, since I was more than happy to get my legs wet during the ride. One nice diversion on this trip was stopping at a sandy island about a quarter of the way through, where I waded in the (very) cold water and bobbed along in my life vest.

As I approached Bonners Ferry I took a side route through some very nice wetlands. A huge flock of geese (probably more than two hundred birds) was feeding in the shallow mud and sand flats. It was while hugging the north bank here that I came across a car graveyard. The old timers thought that the best way to shore up the eroding banks of a river was to dump old automobiles en masse along the shore. You can see that along this stretch of the Kootenai—though it's practically invisible if you're not up close because of the advanced rusting of the cars. I'd estimate that they've been there at least thirty years, and there are hundreds of them—mostly the old rounded forties and fifties styles. It was actually quite eerie to float along and see their luminous hulks submerged in the deep water right underneath my boat—something akin to when Frodo and Sam cross the swamp of staring dead faces in Lord of the Rings.

My next goal for paddling the Kootenai is to take the stretch from the Yaak River down to the Moyie, which I think would be a five to six hour trip.

Someone had the ambition to actually paddle the Kootenai River all the way from Troy, Montana to Nelson, B.C. You can read his detailed trip description at Paddling.net. Beware the length of this trip though--he spent a week. An article in the Kootenai Valley Press illustrates what happens to paddlers who take lightly the river's length and sluggishness as it approaches Canada.