Bear Trap Canyon or Gallatin River

[DamRepublican]

Anyone in the area ever hit Bear Trap Canyon on the Madison? How was it? Technical? I should be getting my ww canoe in the next two weeks, would love to hit it, or would the gallatin be a better place to start?

[Yonder_River]

Ahh the memories, those are the two rivers I learned to boat on. I have no idea what type of ww canoe you're getting and what your skills are so that kind of helps in making a determination on where to start. Not sure why your buying a canoe either but anyway...

At moderate levels, both rivers are standard III/IV runs and lots of fun. I would start out on the upper gallatin to the bridge, it'd probably be nice to have a road nearby when you inevitably dump truck your rig. You can look at the section below the bridge and make that call yourself, it's a step up and is IV- at mid to higher levels and pretty continuous.

Beartrap is roadless so that makes it quite a bit more committing, especially with a big canoe. Both of these rivers difficulty are correlated with the water level. Beartrap at 1200 is doable, but the first rapid will be very low and you might want to put in below that one which means portaging your canoe. I'd look for at least 1,600 before heading in there. Kitchen Sink is a fun rapid, easy for expert kayakers, but can be dangerous for beginners so I would get some skillz before you consider running that. The rest is pretty straightforward ww for the most part. Feel free to ask other questions.

[DamRepublican]

I'm buying the ww canoe because I have been canoeing since forever and I'm quite good (IMHO), although I've never paddled a ww canoe before. I have paddled ww yaks before and never really liked it as much as hitting the river in a canoe (I have done upper class II and low class III water in non ww canoes before). So there is where I'm at. I have seen video/pics of kitchen sink and it does look nasty, but hopefully I'll be able to work up to it. Also I'm new to Bozeman, which bridge are you referring when you say 'to the bridge' is it that one with the large parking lot on the upriver side and the turnoff for lava lake on the other?

[mtcham]

I'll second Yonders advice on starting on the upper Galli. The water is coming up, today at 1600 and peak probably in a few weeks dependant on weather. Below the bridge gets a little pushier and probably not a good choice for the first run.

I know a group of maybe a half dozen WW canoe guys that run locally. There aren't that many. Maybe try to hook up them.

There is usually some of our group(kayaks) up there most nights. Probably won't be running Moose Flats to the bridge until the water comes up more.

[Lexi-Bell]

The kitchen sink is a much more a class IV than House Rock, based on the rapid alone and as Yonder mentioned the isolation factor.

I've got a raft and mostly will be running Tues and Wednesdays, PM if you need someone to follow you and clean up.

[DamRepublican]

^^^great avatar, that sounds awesome, I'll be driving back to PA (where I'm originally from) on the 15th to do a long weekend canoe trip with my Dad and some other friends which is when I'll be picking up the ww canoe (Dad's friend got me a great deal) Don't know if I have to outfit it yet or what all comes with it so when I get back I'll probably be hitting the gallatin (thanks for all the great advice) whenever I can, I'll let anyone know, who wants to give me a few tips or just wants to laugh as I try to learn, as soon as I know when I'm going. Again thanks for the intel.

[Throttle Jockey]

Gardiner stretch on Yellowstone is good for beginners like me and sweet surf waves in late summer too.

Under utilized float fishing through that stretch as well esp hoppers when rest of river is played from driftboats.Yankee Jim stretch too.

[FreakofSnow]

Check out Moose Flats to the takeout at the bridge (big sweeping corner, can't miss it).

As for the Madison, that would be a good one as you can always portage Kitchen Sink if you don't like the looks of it. The rest of the rapids are pretty straight forward.

Then when you are done, come on over to the Lochsa with me. The rivers over in W. MT are rising fast.