Post #9: CFS

I was curious about the cubic feet per second of discharge along the Missouri River from Three Forks, Mt. to Williston, ND.  The USGS website has a list of their gage locations here:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/current?type=flow

The following list is in sequence for down river flow. Using the historical data for the dates I would be near the gage, I wanted to compare the Skagit and the Sauk Rivers' cfs when Ellen and I paddled from Darrington to Concrete via the two rivers.  The Sauk's cfs was 2340 and the Skagit was at 5020 cfs.  That is mid-winter numbers compared to spring run off and summer flow on the Missouri River.

Missouri River CFS for June 2013

Three Forks-Jefferson River 5/30 4,500 cfs

Toston  6/1 10,000 cfs

Hauser Dam 6/8 6,500 cfs 6/15 6,000

Holter Dam 6/1 4,000 cfs 

Ulm 6/15 12,000 cfs 6/22 12,000 (The Smith River drains here)

Great Falls 6/15 15,000 cfs

Fort Benton 6/15 18,000 cfs 6/22 16,500 cfs

Virgelle 6/15 16,000 cfs 6/22 13,000 (Both the Teton and Marias Rivers drain here)

Landusky 6/15 20,000 6/22 15,000

Below Fort Peck Dam 6/22 no information

Wolf Point 11,000

Culberston 11,500

Williston, ND no cfs the water temperature on July 1, 2013 was 67 degrees.

Post #3: Historical Sites

I read Glenn Monahan's Montana's Wild and Scenic Upper Missouri River and transferred the historical sites he describes to my Garmin. The paddle will not be a race. Stretching my legs while searching for historical sites will be needed.  I am still searching for coordinates locating fossils on the Missouri River.
Small items remain to complete the deck.

Post #2: Mileage Waypoints

Our Thanksgiving Day was outstanding due to the weather and the well prepared dinner. We deep fried our eleven pound turkey in peanut oil for a short time in order to seal the juices inside and then finished the turkey in the oven.  Click on the link below the photo to view video.
All the mileage waypoints and Lewis and Clark campsites are located in my Garmin.  Next up is to locate the historical and geological sites along the river.
The last of the east decking was laid this week.  I do have a long call list to complete before I can declare the east deck finished. Now on to the south deck.

https://picasaweb.google.com/106860856195924737795/OurFall2013#5951559167262753106

Post #1: Planning in November 2013 for a Memorial Day 2014 launch

The Pacific Northwest rain has me short on energy for completing the south section of the deck. My lower right leg is painful.  Those are excuses for staying inside and starting the serious work of planning my 2014 spring trip. I explained to my wife, Ellen, that I wanted to drive to San Diego, buy a surf board, and work my way up the coast to San Clemente learning how to surf. That is option B.  Option A is a solo kayak trip from Three Forks, Montana to Fork Peck Dam starting on May 25, 2014.  Ellen, my wife, would join me at Fort Peck after she releases her students for the summer on June 18th.  It would take her two days to reach Fort Peck. She would join me for the 224 or so miles on the river to Williston, North Dakota.  That section would take us between seven and 10 days.

At this time I am going with option A unless something out of my control happens to me, the Missouri River, or to Ellen or the pups.
I am using the book The Complete Kayaker as my main source of information.  It is a very well written book for anyone wanting to float the Missouri River.  The past two days I have been studying the author's campsites and by using his GPS coordinates and Google Earth I have been able to locate his campsites. I have printed the campsites from the Google Earth images and will place the images in a binder for use on the river.  He did it in two weeks and I will plan for 18 days to reach Fort Peck Marina where I will wait for Ellen's arrival.
The wind is a huge concern of mine.  Especially on Fort Peck Lake.
The east deck's last row of decking was installed this week. 

You can skip the posts that are about the preparation and go directly to the start of the journey by clicking on this link:
http://jarvinenj.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-journey-begins-day-1.html


Missouri River, kayak, Three Forks, Montana, solo kayak, BLM, western Montana, Lewis and Clark Corp of Discovery, Canyon Ferry Lake, Canyon Ferry Dam, Hauser Lake, Hauser Dam, Holter Dam, Holter Lake, Kim's Marina,  Townsend, Montana