By Carroll College students were invited to watch a special screening brought to the community by the Columbia River Canoe Project on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
A large crowd gathered at the Myrna Loy Theatre in Helena to watch the Columbia River Canoe Project, a documentary chronicling the 1,300-mile, 55-day expedition of Robert Lester, 26, of Butte, and his 18-year-old cousin, Braxton Mitchell.
This special screening was promoted to the Carroll College community, all they needed was to sign up and they received a free ticket.
This documentary portrayed how the two spent 55 days paddling from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean.
The film showcased the challenges the duo faced as they navigated the Columbia River, traveling through traditional Native American lands.
“We didn’t know what we signed up for… it was going to be one of the hardest things we’ve ever done,” Lester said.
Mitchell, who had never canoed before, joined the trip just a week and a half before departure.
“I’d learn how to do it. How hard could it be?” he recalled.
Their journey was anything but easy. On the first day, the canoe flipped in a whirlpool, leaving their gear submerged for 20 minutes. At times, they had to drag their 17-foot canoe through fields to bypass beaver dams and avoid contaminated drainage ponds from past mining efforts. The duo also walked around the dangerous white-water rapids of Alberton Gorge, carrying their canoe for 18 miles.
Despite the hardships, their trip focused on conservation. Along the way, they stopped to advocate for clean waterways. They highlighted pollution concerns at the Smurfit-Stone mill site in Missoula.
“Keeping water free flowing has shown that endangered species can return within a year,” Mitchell said in the film.
Their canoe, custom-built by Navarro, suffered wear and tear throughout the journey, requiring on-the-spot repairs.
“One of our seats broke mid-trip, so we had to fix it ourselves,” Lester said in the film.
His father, Bob Lester, followed the expedition by car as a support team, ensuring they had supplies.
The expedition pushed both young men to their limits. Within the first three days, Mitchell admitted he’d thought about quitting.
“I considered calling my mom to pick me up,” he said in the documentary.
They persevered, crossing Idaho in three days. Scouting obstacles along the way.
“Maps don’t show things like fences,” Mitchell noted.
The documentary left a lasting impact on the audience, illustrating not only the physical and mental endurance required for such an expedition but also the importance of protecting waterways. After the documentary was over, a Q&A was opened up to the floor for Lester to answer questions. Many students were engaged and seemed to enjoy partaking in the questions after.
