SILVER STAR — When Thomas Elpel walks out his backdoor and sees the Jefferson River winding its way toward Three Forks, he can't help but wonder what it would be like to spend days drifting downriver.

Tom Elpel could be considered a Renaissance man. But the Renaissance is about 20,000 years too late for Elpel — he prefers the Stone Age. Elpel left his family in Silver Star on Aug. 1 to go camping ...