Exploring Montana’s Wildest Whitewater

Winners of the TGR/Ford Ranger short film contest, Trent Mcrerey and Knox Hammack are out living a dream come true. The two kayakers loaded up their Ford Ranger at TGR’s Jackson HQ before hitting the long road north into Montana. The first stop was the 105-foot Natural Bridge Falls, a waterfall first run in 2008. Their goal? The second and third descents. “Unfortunately, the limestone which comprises the Boulder River Gorge had eroded since the previous descent making the drop un-runnable even with high flows,” says Trent.

Trent and Knox jumped into the new truck and headed north, deep into the mountains. Eric Parker Photo.

After migrating across the valley to the Crazy Mountains, the two battled hail, snow and rain in an attempt to run Big Timber Creek. “The first day we put in and managed to run one rapid, but with minimal daylight, freezing temperatures, and snow, we decided to leave our boats where they were and hike out,” says Trent. Luckily, the sun came out as they were hiking up to retrieve boats the next morning and the crew scored an epic day of boating down one of Montana’s most notorious creeks.

Sometimes half the adventure is even getting to your line. Eric Parker Photo.

The creek’s namesake feature, Big Timber Falls, has been known for dishing out all sorts of carnage, so of course Trent and Knox went for it. “Knox fired it up first, styling the line and solidifying my decision to run it. I didn’t quite hit the line I wanted to, so I hiked back up hoping to improve on the first. I had a similar outcome once more and we called it a wrap!” says Trent. With some solid runs in the bag, they packed up the truck and rallied out to the North fork World Championship in Banks, Idaho for the rowdiest race in whitewater!