Ryan Jordan

Staging for the Smith River

As of today, the Smith River is running about 190 cfs, which is a good level for packrafts. It’s too low for big rafts, way too low for drift boats, and OK for canoes. I love boating rivers in a packraft. It means we can sneak in when others can’t, and enjoy off-season solitude on low-water rivers.

The Smith is a tributary of the Missouri River. The section we are floating is between Camp Baker and Eden Bridge – 59 miles of glorious, roadless, canyon solitude.

Scenic canyon walls, red-ribbon trout fishing, and the stunning climate of an Indian summer will make this trip a memorable one for the 8 of us – all entrepreneurs – who will be floating together over the weekend.

I’ll post live dispatches via satellite, but I won’t be posting photos (most likely). The canyon walls of the Smith make satellite windows short, and trying to get photos out on a 2.4 kbps connection can be … problematic!

Follow along here:

Stay tuned and enjoy,
RJ