One man went on a canoe trip that was so epic that it's now becoming a movie. In 2023, Robert "Mountain King" Lester went on an epic 52-day canoe trip across the Continental Divide waterways.
He traveled from Butte, Montana to the Pacific Ocean. Along the trip, Lester documented his travels, and it's now being turned into a documentary called The Columbia River Canoe Project.
"It is really interesting to be known as a canoer, because I know there are a lot crazier canoers out there," Lester told Cowboy State Daily. "But this has been the largest expedition of my life and one of my greatest accomplishments — not just the trip but also getting this film together — and I'm really so honored."
He decided to do the trip after talking things over with a friend. "He just lit up and said, 'Man, you got to do that,'" Lester recalled. "For me, that meant I really had to do it."
Canoe Adventure
Lester reached on to various canoe makers about the trip, and Navarro Canoe Co took the bite. They gifted him a 17-foot Ruby Red Oberholtzer Navarro vessel for the trip. Prior to the trip, two of Lester's friends dropped out and his cousin, Braxton Mitchell, a greenhorn when it comes to the outdoors, joined the trip.
"That was really something that was unpredictable, but incredibly fortunate," Lester added. It became a story about the two of them facing the elements. They captured a classic man vs nature story.
"There's both this sense that people are really excited we made it and relieved," Lester said. "The audience seems to love this chaos of us making it to the end."
Following the trip, Lester began to play the film at various festivals. He's been blown away by the reception."We made this film, but I never dreamed it would ever have the incredible reception it has," Lester said. "People are so excited about the trip."
Ultimately, the canoe trip ended up being something special for the two of them.
"I'm really lucky to live an outdoor life and to get to tell these stories," Lester said.
