Camping along the Yaak River is uncrowded and pleasant. Car hoods are propped open as deterence against pack rats from nesting atop the engine (seriously). The Yaak River tumbles down steep valleys from Canada into the Northwest corner of the state of Montana. Known in Canada as the Yahk, it originates in the Yahk Mouuntains, eventually draining to the Kootenai and Columbia Rivers in the United States. "I survived the Yaak" is a popular cry for those who manage to drive, bike, or drift the river in remote Montana.