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St. Maries, June 2, 2002

By Vic Castleberry

The St Maries River trip happened suddenly. First Tom Smith said that he was doing it Sunday for sure. Sounded ok. Then we checked the flows and saw figures higher than when we all were nearly swamped before, this time 1400csf rather than the 800 or 900 when the ice was melting on the side banks. Tom had conflicts and Brian Burns opted to do the trip.

Arriving at the meet site in St Maries, we met a party of kayakers: Andy Buddington, Bob Madsen, Gary Miller and Claire Carpenter, and Susan Luchesi, and Brian Durheim. Canoeing were Larry Wood Jim Harless Brian Burns Robbi and Vic C.

We were not surprised by the river high on the sunny banks at the put in at Mashburn after the slow and bumpy pothole'ish road from the takeout. All were prepared for a fast bouncy ride after reaching the rapids.

There was a lot of nice surfing on the class III run and no serious problems.
A couple of spills occurred but no one complained of bumps or cold water effects. The usual lunch stop no longer harbors the deer kill from before and the river is clear of all logs. Andy pointed out a rock outcropping of sandstone with ripple effects dating it to a billion years or more, wow! Best plan is to boat with a geologist or even better with a great partner like my wife Robbi.