Although praised as the largest undammed river in the Lower 48, Ryan Abrahamsen discovered that’s not an entirely accurate description of the 690-mile-long Yellowstone River. “That’s kind of a misnomer,” he said. As his crew floated the Yellowstone from Livingston to its confluence with the Missouri River in North Dakota, a distance of almost 500 river miles, they had to navigate over several irrigation diversion dams.
“You still paddle over them, kind of, but they’re a hazard,” he said. “There’s a massive one at Intake.” The entire time the boat and crew are negotiating the dam’s rapids, a high-definition camera mounted atop a 10-foot-long telescoping pole attached to the craft shot 360-degree video of their trip, similar to Google Street View.
“The people we hire are professional rafting guides, so they’re used to going through rapids,” Abrahamsen said. The National Park Service oversees the 4,900-mile long Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail. The original The section of river is just one of several rivers and trails Abrahamsen’s business Terrain360 is mapping along the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail .
The original cross-country trip of the Corps of Discovery went from Pittsburgh to the Pacific Ocean and took from 1803 to 1806. Back then, 45 men were guided by captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The Yellowstone segment Abrahamsen’s crew completed was navigated by Clark, 10 crew members, Sacajawea and her 17-month-old child.
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