Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 2 42 A S THE LAST OF THE SNOW WAS MELTING, six men hunting wolves drove their Chevrolet Suburban off the two-track that leads to our favorite campground, called Para- dise, which right then wasn't. Their truck flipped after collid- ing with a mini avalanche—that's what the tire tracks indicat- ed—then splashed into the Selway River, which was running at about nine feet of flabbergasting flood stage. Four of the six men were swept like worms over Rainbow Falls. Only a boot was found. The river was whooshing along so alarming- ly that the would-be rescuers couldn't retrieve the Suburban for two days, even though it sat six feet from shore. It took the sheriff seven hours merely to arrive at the scene; the site is but 20 miles west of my home, yet to drive there is usually a two-and-a-half-hour jaunt, except when there's snow, which there was. Nor could rescuers cross the river to search the far side for corpses. So two helicopters were summoned, as were cadaver dogs and at least a dozen rescue specialists. Their search meant standing on the riverbank, kicking dirt, and wondering how many miles the bodies had already traveled. The sheriff mentioned that the missing men would have to decompose until their chest cavities filled with gas, then they'd float and maybe summertime rafters would find a quartet of grisly carcasses that spoiled their vacations but supplied a vivid tale for a lifetime. But the sheriff doubt- ed even that would happen. He reckoned the bodies were permanently trapped underwater against logjams—"post- age-stamped" is the term used here—and that there'd never be anything of substance to ship home for burial. Forgive me if this is indelicate, but brown trout are carnivorous. Brown trout eat other brown trout. Also mice. Also anything that by JOHN PHILLIPS An excerpt from his book Four Miles West of Nowhere: A City Boy's First Year in the Montana Wilderness. See our review of Four Miles West of Nowhere on p. 31. A SCRATCHING POST FOR BOBCATS RAVALLI SEARCH AND RESCUE WILL NOT SALVAGE YOUR CAR OR GEAR. THEY'LL HOIST YOU TO SAFETY, BUT YOUR KAYAK BECOMES A SCRATCHING POST FOR BOBCATS.

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