The documentary, directed by Fruit Heights native Neil Larson, and the expedition that inspired it were projects hatched by professional skier/mountaineer Rob Lester, who had become enamored with the idea of experiencing the river on a grander scale while growing up in Butte, Montana.

“When I was a little kid, my cousin and I used to build these little wooden boats, and we’d float them down the river,” Lester told the Standard-Examiner. “At the end of the summer, every year, we’d let them go with messages inside. … We always wanted somebody from the ocean to call us, or write us a letter back. It never happened, but I just became kind of obsessed with this idea of, like, the travel.”

That idea kicked around the back of Lester’s head for years until he recounted it to a friend who subsequently encouraged him to pursue the endeavor.

“I went home the next day and started emailing canoe companies,” Lester said. “The next May (of 2023), we were in the water.”

Despite a relatively short run up to actually embarking on the journey, Lester found himself in a scramble during the final weeks as two different people were forced to relinquish the spot next to him in the canoe. However, he ended up finding an unlikely partner at a family reunion: his then-18-year-old cousin, Braxton Mitchell, a Plain City boy who had never been canoeing in his life.

“I guess just a sense of adventure,” Mitchell told the Standard-Examiner of the decision to offer up his services. “That’s what was appealing to it — being able to see things I’d never seen before, experience hardships that I’ve never experienced. And I thought that it would basically change me for the better.”

So, after a crash course in canoeing, Lester and Mitchell launched from Silver Bow Creek near Butte in the Columbia River Basin for what would be a 52-day journey to the Pacific Ocean.

“It was really challenging,” Mitchell said. “Just whenever a hardship would come up, we just had to figure it out and get through it. It taught me a lot about fortitude and just not giving up.”

Lester and Mitchell traveled through four U.S. states and parts of Canada during the expedition. Along the way, the duo portaged 19 of the roughly 40 hydroelectric dams they encountered, carrying their canoe more than 175 miles over the course of the trip. Just 10 days into the trip, they found themselves carrying it for 15-plus miles in one shot.

“If you look at our GPS track, we actually traveled well over 1,300 miles because as the river got large, we had to often stay near the bank, which adds a lot of mileage, especially in the large reservoirs,” Lester said. “Crossing the river for campsites or food also added a lot of miles.”

At one point, their canoe was also tipped by rapids and both men were sent into the water, a first for Mitchell.

“I remember talking to him that night. He goes, ‘Yeah, you know, I’m actually, really, kind of afraid of whitewater,'” Lester recalled. “I looked at him and I said, ‘What? We’ve been here for 18 days.’ But he says, ‘Yeah, I’ve been afraid of whitewater the whole time, but I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you wouldn’t let me come.’ … It’s amazing that he wanted to go knowing he was afraid.”

Those moments — when his cousin showed his courage and found new abilities and confidence within himself — are what Lester said he’ll carry with him.

“I look at life differently because of how hard the trip was and the challenges I went through,” Mitchell added.

The journey also allowed the pair to see firsthand the effects that non-Native human activity has had on the river and surrounding environment.

“We need to be careful about littering anywhere near a river — pollution. There are a lot of animals and ecosystems that rely on the river for life,” Mitchell said. “Also, a lot of the dams just seem unnecessary. There’s a lot of them that are out of order that are still left there. There was a pulp mill in Missoula, Montana, that has these ponds that were full of chemicals that they used to break down the pulp to make things like cardboard and paper, and they’re left there.”

As part of their expedition, Lester and Mitchell visited the Hanford Site, a decommissioned nuclear production complex in Benton County, Washington, where historical practices resulted in the release of radioactive materials into the local environment, including the river.

“Columbia River Canoe Project” has screened and netted awards at a number of film festivals, including the Twin Falls SANDWICHES Film Festival, SOAR Film Festival, Old Towne Film Festival, LA International Art Film Fest, British Columbia Environmental Film Festival and more.

To purchase tickets for the Kaysville screening, go to https://mountain-king-industries.com/kaysville-tickets/.