Dearborn

Took a packrafting trip over the weekend. At approx 150cs the water is high enough for a light inflatable boat but definitley too low for anything heavy. As a crew we only walked once or twice when the water became hard to read. Great weather and sunshine made the trip worth it!

This is a fun stretch of river. Popular for fishing rigs.

Ran it today at about 900, I've run it at 275---you wouldn't want to try it much lower than that.

There are three rapids on the section. I'll disagree with the earlier comment slightly. The first rapid is a blink-and-you'll miss it. But the second rapid is the most significant on the run. It comes a little less than halfway down, on a right-hand bend on the river. It's easy to scout from river left. The rapid is a fairly straightforward boulder garden with a hole at the bottom (river right), but if there's a class III rapid on this stretch, it's the second, not the third. We've seen a canoe wrapped on the big pillow rock in the middle of this rapid, but it was gone today. The third rapid is about three-quarters of the way down and is, to my mind, easier than the second. It's on a leftward bend in the river at the base of a long cliff band.

Packrafting the Dearborn.

This stretch is a beautiful , scenic, canyon run on the Montana plains. There were a lot of people in fishing rafts when we ran it. A few small, technical rapids, at this flow of 580 cfs, I would consider them Class II+. The run is 19 miles total, not 16! Prepare for a long day!

This is looking back up at the only really
substantial rapid. It is a shallow boulder garden
tha begins around the bend to the right and ends
with some Class 2 wave holes. It could be
challenging for canoes.

Most of the river is Class I+. The challenge is mainly
to keep from hitting the cliff walls that the run goes
by. There are 3 rapids that I can remember. The first
two are easy II and the last is a shallow boulder
garden that runs for a 100m or so before a turn and
some medium sized waves. Class II+ or III-. This is
one of the prettiest rivers I have seen. There is a
small playspot for kayaks about 50m below the put in
bridge.

The majority of the run is distinguished by the
spectacular canyons it goes through. The first
canyon is fairly wide open with fairly low walls.
Another section has extremely tall cliffsbut is still
fairly open. The last section reminds me of a flooded
slot canyon in Utah. It is very windy with cliffs
extending right into the river.

between Flat Cr and Sullivan Cr

This is the open area after the first canyon and
before the narrow winding final canyon.