THE DETAILS Judith River, MT Saturday, April 17, 1993 Took a drive to check out the river and surrounding area. The South Fork was dry as a bone and the Middle Fork by the horse camp was flowing with cold, cold water around ice and snow. At this time of the year, I think the water was just too cold, because I didn't even see a fish. At any rate, the river bottom is mixed solid rock, medium stones, and some silt. There are a fair amount of holes, ripples, and fallen trees in the water. This looks like a good place to return to when the weather gets warmer.   Saturday, May 15, 1993 Although I'd been here before, Jack suggested I try the South Fork. After a 2 hour drive I found the river exceptionally high, swift and colored like chocolate milk so I didn't even try. This was probably due to snow melt in the mountains and the previous night's rain. The weather was nice today so I took a hike up the Middle Fork from the Ranger Station. After about 2 miles, I cut across a pass over to the Lost Fork and hiked back down to the station. These river branches seemed misnamed to me. (Or maybe I was just confused?) The Lost Fork was raging water and the Middle Fork was bone dry in places, flowing slowly in other places. At the confluence of the two, the isolated Middle Fork Cabin sits. The hike is not overly strenuous and has some great views from the top of the cliffs and down below where the river cuts many caves inot the bank. Back to Backpacking