Kayaking the prairie to Lonesome Lake

When I saw the pictures, I wished I could have floated the runoff. Josh Danreuther, Kristin and Rusty Gasvoda, and Steve Lund kayaked the prairie. The last time the runoff was good enough to float was in 2018. You need good snow and a quick melt. While we all know the impact is flooding, some see the opportunity to enjoy it. Josh Danreuther said, "I didn't go into the lake this year because there was a really strong south wind. It was that big winter, and the runoff was incredible." They started at Matt Myer's place on Spring Coulee Road, down to almost the lake. Last time, in 2018, it took forever to get across Lonesome Lake. "This year, it was kind of the same thing but with a south wind. It was really blowing, so we just opted out of going on the lake because once you get on the Lake, the only way out is to go all the way across it.It's about an hour and 15 minutes trip.

So the water was running across the road, and we could have gone into the lake."

"I mean, the lake fills up occasionally with a slow melt-off, but you need a runoff, and everything worked out this year; it got super warm. And poof, water is running." They kayaked Easter Sunday and then the day

after. "We did it twice. But it was fun. There was another big flow from west. So we hit that and just moved. There was a lot of water moving. You just went with the flow."

"You just jump in and hang on and go try not to flip over to----super fun! You have to have a decent boat that won't fall over. I think canoes aren't the best because they take a little more water to float. It was fun. You take advantage of these little fun things that happen out here. And go do fun stuff."

I laughed when I interviewed Steve Lund because I could hear his friends say, "You did what? You floated the prairie?"

"I had never done it before. And, you know, Josh said we got to do this because it doesn't happen very often. I was expecting it to be pretty extreme. I wasn't sure because I'd never seen it before. But it wasn't crazy at all. It was nice and mellow. And it was neat to float through there and, you know, get that sort of perspective that you never get from a boat. It was very relaxing. The weather was perfect. I would have never guessed that I would be paddling through the prairie. If you tell someone, guess what I did. I went kayaking through the prairie, right? It's just it's not something you hear about and, truthfully, doesn't happen."

"It's not a river. No. But at the same time, it doesn't happen every winter, right."

"It just kept snowing and snowing, and I mean, a few days before that. It was here at my place. We had a little flood, and it blew out the road, and you know, it was touch and go there for a few minutes. It(the flooding) didn't get in the house, but everything was wet, but my house. The house was like a little island with a beachfront."

"If anyone has the chance to paddle the spring runoff in the wide-open prairie of Montana, you should do it."