Countdown 320

By Jill Beauchesne, 6-22-09

	Clark Fork Coalition board member Daniel Kiely is counting down the minutes until the put-in of the Clark Fork 320 this Saturday.

I’ve got dry bags strewn across the house and flies poking out of my carpet.  I’ve got all my shirts and shorts laid out, and I’ve been spreading out my map of the Clark Fork across the kitchen table every night after dinner.  I’m as ready as I’ll ever be to put in for the adventure of a lifetime this coming Saturday.  The Clark Fork Coalition staff is working overtime to make sure I’ve got plenty of special guests to entertain along the way, and they’re also throwing the river a pretty great party on Friday, July 3.
On Saturday, June 27th, I’m starting a float of epic proportions-- the Clark Fork 320.  I’ll be putting in at Racetrack near Butte, Montana, for a 20-day float of the entire length of the Clark Fork River.  I’ll be using this float as an opportunity to promote all of the restoration work underway across the basin and to call attention to lingering threats to watershed health in the Clark Fork and its tributaries.  Oh-- and I’ll be finding plenty of time for fishing as well.  It’s coming at just the right time-- the water’s not too high and it’s not too low, and I’ve got a bunch of salmonfly nymphs to try in the river’s upper stretches next week.
You can join me when I float a day’s stretch through Missoula for the 320 on Friday, June 3.  Catch a free shuttle at Caras Park between 1-3PM, ride up and put-in at Shar’on (no parking available on-site), and take out back at Caras for the ‘One River, One Voice’ party with beer, food, and music by The Cold Hard Cash show.

See you on the river,
Daniel

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