Distinctly Montana Magazine

14 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 of the question—these things can grow to a length of twenty feet and live for a hundred years— but it raises a different question: how did these homely fish, which look like giant catfish turned inside-out, come to be in Flathead Lake in the first place? The nearest known population is in the Kootenai River, more than a hundred miles to the northwest. Did some bucket biologist with a sick sense of humor transport live sturgeon to the lake more than a century ago in the hope of establishing them for sport? It's an outlandish theory, but so are many attempts to explain the per- sistent reports from people spotting an inland Leviathan plying the waters of the lake. A few imaginative paleontologists have suggested that what people are seeing could be a plesiosaurus, an aquatic reptile from the Early Jurassic period. Some eyewitness reports are uncanny in their description of this carnivorous dinosaur, from its 40-foot length to its large flippers and snake-like neck, tiny head and long tail. Problem is, they went extinct about 62 mil- lion years ago. Could it be possible that there is some kind of holdover living in Flathead Lake, a giant that somehow survived the eons, trapped in the receding waters of Lake Missoula after the last ice age? Sometimes the combination of waves, sun, reflections, and shadows can lead people to think they're seeing something on the lake that's just not there. People report seeing a wake slicing through the slick surface on a windless day when there's not a boat within sight. Has to be a mon- ster, right? Not neces- sarily. Such wave action is an easily explained product of lake hydrau- lics. When surface wa- ter is displaced as a boat cuts through the water, the resulting wave continues to angle outward from the boat, efficiently transferring the energy until it is slowed by wind, the shore, or the drag of the bottom when it becomes shallow enough. On this lake, which is 27 miles long and 15 miles wide, a boat wake can roll along for miles before the energy is dissipat- ed, frequently merging with other traveling ripples to make un- usual, serpentine shapes in an otherwise smooth surface. When the summer sun bounces off these isolated waves, sometimes people's imaginations can get the better of them. These thoughts were going through Cam Logan's head late one summer afternoon in 2020 as he glided on his paddleboard across the glassy water near his home in Somers. He saw a shape ahead in the water, but it was at least a mile away, too far to tell what it was. "It looked like it was coming right at me and I thought it might be a moose or a grizzly… doing the breast- stroke in perfect timing," he said. Although the sun was starting to set, he paddled out toward the object, which kept rising eight to ten feet out of the water, and then sank back down to the sur- face. "I was getting nervous…my mind was making up all kinds of stuff. I thought I was paddling toward a 3,000-pound grizzly." Loved by USA TODAY, Mother Nature, and ever yone who rides it, the historic Route of the Hiawatha Trail is an experience you'll never forget. Glide 15 miles downhill, through 10 amazing tunnels, over 7 sky-high trestles, and past epic natural beauty. TM Trail open May 26–September 17 Reserve your seat at RideTheHiawatha.com 208.744.1301 | I-90 Exit 0 at the ID/MT line. FLATHEAD LAKE

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