Missouri Breaks in Montana questions?

[BWCA66]

Have a trip all planned for June, we are putting in at Coal Banks and taking out at the Kipp Rec area. For those of you who have been there I have a couple of questions since I got assigned to plan the logistics. Is the water really as bad as they say? Could you filter it and use it for cooking/coffee? I live by the Mississippi and we use that water all the time. What about hammock use? We have a number in our group who like hammocking but a lot of the pics and videos I've looked at don't show many trees. Anybody spent much time fishing this area? What about portable toilets, I now we need to take them but I have heard you need one for each canoe? If you have other thoughts or tips let me know.

Thanks for any help you can give - Greg

 

[dogbrain]

Greg - You should just bring all the water you need on this trip. We bring roughly 1 gallon per day per person for drinking and cooking. If you bring 3 6-gallon water jugs you'll have more than plenty for a week on the river for 2 people. The river water will be up in June and probably muddy. I can't exactly remember, but there may be a couple places to get water like at Judith Landing. One or two of the campsites might even have pump wells, but I haven't ever used them. We just load what we need and take it along. You should call the BLM in Fort Benton Phone: 406-622-4000 and get current answers to the water and toilet question. Another possible option is to bring ammo cans and wag bags for human waste. We didn't need toilets last time I did the river, this is a recent use change.

Many of the campsites have cottonwood trees, so hanging is an option, but some nice campsites don't have any trees. There are other non-campsites that are perfectly good for camping that have trees. There are, however, some stretches of the river with no good hanging trees at all. So depending on what time it is and when you camp your hanging buddies might have to sleep on the ground.

Check out this guys website (ww.avoidingbarges.com). He's doing the entire Missouri River system to the Gulf of Mexico. We just met up with him at Three Forks, Montana yesterday.

Have a good time. Mark

 

[MacCamper]

Thats a pretty cool adventure...I just spent too many minutes reading his blog. I'll be interested in your trip too Greg.
Mac

 

[yellowcanoe]

There was no water at Judith in 2012 mind you the area was still recovering from floods
As to the water bring it. Cattle stand in the river and crap. Geese swim in the water and crap
There is a river guide that you can get from the BLM office near Coal Banks. It's worth it to find historic settlements and know which camping areas have shelters. Those are a godsend the heat is brutal. Sometimes there are cottonwoods but too often not
We used wag bags a couple of nights some campsites have privies check first for snake .
REI sells a toilet seat that fits a paint bucket