2023 Wilderness River Ambassador Journal- Granite Creek
On the Big River Trail
July 2, 2023
Dropped off our gear with Snowy Springs Outfitters at 7:30 AM on our way to the Granite Creek trailhead. We had our Summer, Winter, and rain clothes, sleeping bags and pads, as well as food for 8 days. The packer got it all on two mules.
We left the trailhead at 8:30 and arrived at Granite Cabin at 12:00. The hike was glorious because we were in the woods. Salena took many pictures of flowers and noticed many things on the trail that I would have overlooked. She is like that, she notices things.
The hike was 8 miles long, with a lot of ups and downs. It always seems that if I know the destination is downhill, that the trail goes up. The last half mile of so of the trail was so overgrown you could not see the ground.
About halfway in we started to hear voices, and after a while we saw three people floating kayaks down Granite Creek. They were not in their kayaks. They were walking down the rocks in the creek and guiding them down the creek. That could not have been a fun walk on the slick rocks. At that point they only had about 4 miles left to reach the river.
The packer caught up to us at the cutoff to Granite Creek. After arriving at 12:00 we did our job and logged rafts, pack rafts, kayaks, and a paddleboard. We had pork chops and instant mashed potatoes for dinner, and bed came early.
Snowy Springs Outfitters meet at Granite Cabin with River Ambassador gear and provisions.
July 3
Slept till 7:00, had some breakfast burritos, and got the day started. Hung around the cabin listening for a weather report, but the radio batteries were too weak to receive. We changed the batteries and Salena checked in with Shafer at about 10:30. We explored a little and found the corral and barn. The barn was in great shape, but the corral needs a lot of work.
After playing with the radio, we hiked to the confluence of Granite Creek and the Middle Fork. If not for the sign that said “Big River Trail” we would not have found the trail. Salmonberry bushes had grown enough to hide the trail. The hike is only about one mile, and you can see the river most of the way.
At the confluence there were several places to camp, and a couple of good-looking fishing holes. Credit to the people who have used these camp sites, we only found one old fire ring, and not one single piece of garbage.
As always Salena took amazing pictures of flowers. We got back to the cabin about noon and had some lunch. Still no floaters by this time. After lunch we monitored the river while Salena cut pieces for her “Red Plume” quilt in the shadow of Red Plume Mountain. I spent time trying to figure out a way to secure the bear door from the inside of the cabin so the wooden door could be left open at night.
Saw our first and only rafters at 4:00. They were well outfitted and had flown into Shafer Meadows and floated out from there. They were from Lake Tahoe.
We had steak and Jerry’s broccoli for dinner. My bride is a great back country cook as well as photographer and companion.
View toward Granite Creek with asters
July 4 - Happy birthday USA.
High winds last night from 8:00 till about 11:00. No damage that I am aware of, but I am sure glad we were not in a tent. Packrat showed up about 12:30 and started digging at the walls or floor. Why God put these smelly and annoying creatures on earth is a mystery to me. Perhaps it is Noah’s fault. He shouldn’t have let them on the Arc.
Hiked to Castle Lake Ford this morning on the Big River Trail, about 3 miles round trip. Uphill both ways. Salena found three different kinds of orchids and took pictures of all of them. At the Ford we saw an ouzel’s nest. Neither of us had seen one before, and it was big fun to watch as the ouzel caught bugs and went in and out of the nest. We had thought about hiking to Castle Lake, but the Ford was too deep and fast for us, so we returned to the cabin.
After lunch we saw and visited with a group of 7 young men on their second day from Shafer. They all had their pfds on and were well outfitted. They were college friends from all over the country and try to float a river together every summer. They were interested in FRA and asked questions about the other forks of the Flathead. They were the only group we saw today.
Hamburgers, chips, and beer for our 4th of July celebratory dinner and then off to the bed.
July 5
I think we won a battle with the packrat, as we had piled rocks around the holes in the foundation that blocked his/her access to the walls. We could hear it trying to move the rocks for a while, but it found no access and gave up after a short while. We piled more rocks this morning, we will see if it helps.
We hung around waiting for rafters but didn’t see any till about 11:00. After a successful check in with Hungry Horse, we had some lunch, grabbed our rods, and went for a walk/fish upstream towards Granite Creek. We both caught nice fish right away, and then the floaters started coming hot and heavy. Twenty-five people, and then two river rangers. We had some good visits with them and gave them some FRA information. We realized at this point that most floaters did not want to stop and visit but would holler back and forth with us from their boats.
At about 1:00, in between floaters, a large cinnamon bear swam the river about 100 yards upstream from the cabin and took off up stream. This was a good conversation starter with the floaters, “Did you see the bear that swam the river a little while ago?”
We spent about an hour packrat proofing and cleaning the outhouse. It is clean, but only time will tell if we can keep the rat out.
More pork shops and Jerry’s broccoli for dinner, and then in for the night.
July 6
The packrat only came by and wiggled a couple of rocks and then went away. No sign of it in the outhouse either, so efforts are paying off. This morning we hiked back up to Granite Creek to see if anyone was camping there. Still no sign of recent use. Tomorrow we will hike back there and continue farther upstream.
At about 2:00 we saw 14 pack rafts go by. They were a scout troop from California that had hiked into Schafer Meadows and were floating out.
We had bratwurst sausages for dinner and called it a day.
July 7
Rat was back, rattled rocks for a few minutes and left. We hiked back to Granite Creek this AM and encountered two young men from Bozeman. They had flown to Shafer Meadows and were floating out separately in two 9 ½ foot rafts. With the water level as low as it is that looked like a really good way to go. They were well-equipped and even had a fire pan to help with their leave no trace efforts.
They were both engineers and their business is retro fitting private planes with new entertainment systems. Who knew you could make a living doing that? One of their wives was riding into Spruce Park to spend the night, and then they were taking out at Bear Creek.
We crossed Granite Creek and hiked the shore as far as we could, about a mile. A very nice place to horse camp at the end but would be a long carry for floaters moving their gear. Back to the cabin about 1:00.
We didn’t see anyone till 1:15, and then no one till 5:00. The last group came through at 6:00. They had full portaged twice and did not appear to be having that great a time. To make matters worse, it started raining hard at about 6:15 and the camping spots for the next two miles downstream were full. Rained hard for about 2 ½ hours. Glad we were in the cabin and not a tent.
Santa Fe Chicken for dinner, warm and dry in the cabin.
July 8
No rat last night. Hung around the cabin all day.
About 10:30 we visited with a family from Cut Bank that were riding to Castle Lake. Mom and Dad, son, and daughter. The son, about 8 years old, was excited to catch the big fish there. They came back out at 3:30, and yes, the boy had caught a lot of big fish.
No floaters today. The river is so low that I don’t think anyone wants to fly into Shafer to float out.
July 9
Came out today. Cleaned the cabin, got our gear ready for the packer, piled it under the eave of the cabin, locked it up, and hit the trail by 9:00, trying to get to cool part of the day.
It is a good thing the Granite Creek camping areas had gotten a rest, because we encountered three pack strings going to Granite Creek with camps and rafting gear, and our packer was dropping off a camp there and then going back in with 5 hard side kayaks. The place was about to get really populated.
Our luxury accommodations
Thank you, Flathead Rivers Alliance and The National Forest Service, for the opportunity.
Mark and Salena Beckwith
