DAY 1: Marsh Creek to Gardell’s Hole

Hans Chambers, Tom Yokum and I left Seattle to join a large group of boaters for a combination Middle Fork of the Salmon and Selway trip.  The group also included Vince Thompson, Jim Siebe, Amy James, Janice Delaney, Lee Whitehead, Michael Bunker, Paul & Todd Walters, Steve & Bo Christensen and Shannon, Vicki Isakson & Kyle.  We headed for Marsh Creek outside of Stanley, Idaho for the initial trip starting with a Sunday launch on May 25, 2003.

We heard there was a log across Marsh Creek and to be alert as you ran the upper section.  We assembled our gear at the launch point after two very warm days.  With high water we knew there were two bridges plus the log with very low clearance.  The first bridge was just below the launch and you dropped from your seat between your tubes with about one foot of clearance over the oar towers.  We used the same procedure under a pack bridge farther downstream.  The creek was very high with continuous white water requiring a lot of maneuvering to stay on line.  Vince got offline on a curve and stopped on a rock.  He had to climb out of his boat to push off and move downstream.  About a mile above the confluence with Bear Valley Creek we came to the log that ran diagonally across the river with the current pushing to the low side on the left.  Our group began entering the drop and everyone was pushed left as they dove from their seat to get underneath the log.  When you cleared the log you had to get back on the oars because there were two logjams immediately below the drop that required a class 5 move back to the right of the river.  Tom’s cargo net snagged on the log, it tore free and he flushed through.  Everyone had an exciting run but managed to get under the log safely.

As we continued down stream gear was scattered along the shoreline over a mile.  The other group indicated they were missing two boaters and to watch for swimmers.  We never saw anyone as we continued to the confluence with Bear Valley Creek, the start of the Middle Fork of the Salmon.  We eddied out at the confluence for lunch, as this was our first chance to regroup since launching.  We were running in two sub groups of seven boats and six boats.  We then learned that an oarsman in the other group had been without a helmet or life jacket when going under the log.  He hit his head and fell out of the boat.  This added a sobering and serious overtone to the first day of the trip.  We were now watching for an injured person rather than just lost gear.

We continued downstream running continuous class IV water until we arrived above Dagger Falls.  As we scouted the drop with the river running at approximately 7 ½ feet Hans first comment was “I’m not running that”, Mike responded “I didn’t come this far to carry my boat let’s study it and find a route”.  Never having run Dagger before my thought was to start stripping gear for the portage.  As we studied the falls it became apparent there was a line down river left next to a pour over.  After taking the first big drop, the river would flush you to river right through large standing waves and then around the rock and hopefully back to the safe eddy below.  Steve, Bo and I went below to set up safety for the first group.  We could not see the run from where our safety was set.  We would only know if anyone was in trouble when they floated around the corner through the standing waves.  Mike, Hans, Tom and Vince were the first group to run and all made it without any incident.  I moved up to watch other boaters come through and figure out the appropriate line.  Jim came first and was on the left edge of the potential route.  We came through with no incident.  His passenger Amy walked the falls.  Janice followed much farther right and also flushed though without a problem.  This gave me enough confidence to know that I could hit the appropriate slot.  Tom, Vicki and I then went up to run as the last group over the falls.  While we were going up to our boats the third group came through.  Paul was rowing an Avon self bailer with Todd as a passenger.  He was too far left by the pour over, his boat tilted and dumped him into the water.  Both the boat and he were flushed downstream into the standing waves.  Todd was in the front grinning and enjoining the ride when he rounded the corner and the safety group began blowing whistles and throwing ropes at him.  He quickly realized he had no boatmen.  Safety got him to shore and watched as Paul swam out of the waves.  Hans, Bo and Tom took off in a boat chase to pull Paul from the water.  Hans got him a rope to avoid the logjam at the bottom of the eddy and then to shore a ½ mile downstream.  Kyle, Vicki and I began our run and they both shot through without incident.  I hit a rock with my oar and it popped off of my clip just above the main drop.  I struggled to get it back on the clip and my boat straightened out as I approached the 12 foot drop, with a couple of strokes of the other oar I managed to square the boat around and flush through at the right point.  I held on and enjoyed the ride!

In the eddy below Jim was talking to the group leader that lost the person on Marsh Creek.  We took the following details for an accident report:

We agreed to carry this to Ranger Rick at Indian Creek guard station to request a search.

We still had about a 3-½ mile run to Gardell’s Hole Camp.  Everyone was ready for the day to wind down.  After the class 4 and 5 water and the big adrenalin rush of Dagger Falls we had to work to stay focused and make the rest of the day safe.  At Murphy’s Hole there was another tree stretched from the left bank to almost the edge of the hole.  We had to go to the lip of the hole to clear the log and then pull hard left to clear the hole.  I missed the move and bounced through the hole, high sided and made it upright.  I eddied out behind a rock waiting for the remainder of the group.  Bo and Kyle both went into the hole and flipped their boats.  Kyle’s boat was upside down, he was holding on and the surrounding boats were working it into an eddy.  I gave chase and noticed that Steve’s boat now had two passengers instead of one.  He pulled Bo from the water while his boat recirculated in Murphy’s hole.  After reflipping Kyle’s boat everyone was ready to head for camp, but Bo’s boat and the upper group had not come down river.  We sent the dinner group ahead to set up camp while we waited.  Bo grabbed his oar hiked back upstream to reach his boat, which was reflipped by the sweep group.  We proceeded to the camp with everyone safe and big river stories to tell.

Shortly after arriving at camp Barry Brazell’s group of seven including Dave and Shelly Becker, Ralph and Larry Pond and Rich Samuels &  Scott Harvey.  They shared camp with us because it was late and there was adequate room.  Everyone enjoyed dinner, rest and Robert’s Service stories around the campfire recited by Ralph Pond.
 

DAY 2: Gardell’s Hole to Sheepeater Hot Springs.

At Gardell’s Hole, Mike was able to use his airplane radio to report the missing boater from the prior day.  We requested a search and the small plane operator relayed all of the information to the Forest Service at Indian Creek.  A slow and easy start in camp because this will be a short day.  We reviewed safety procedures and damage reports from the prior day.  Marsh Creek broke eight blades and bent one shaft.  Everyone still had adequate spares and equipment to make a safe run.  We skirted the hole at the top of Sulpher Slide and rode the big waves.  Fast water all the way to Velvet Falls.  At big water there is a sneak route to the left of the large marker rock that is usually about 20 feet high.  The four boats ahead of me took the left sneak.  I was tangled up with Vince & Paul, set up wrong and aimed for a right side route that Ralph described as being softer in big water.  My actual run was right of center through an enormous hole with the waves stopping me at the top before I punched through.  Half of our group ran the hole and the other half took the sneak route.  No one flipped, it was exciting and everyone arrived safe.  We passed another group that had lost a boat and gear.  The ride through the Chutes was great with huge wave trains to rollercoaster through.  A quick float takes us to Powerhouse, which becomes a series of long, large continuous waves at high water.  Yeehaw, yeehaw, yeehaw!  Below Powerhouse the lost boat had been stacked on river left with most of its gear.  We found out later that Ted Day and his group had done all of this work.  The boat was turned on its side and looked like a billboard as you came around the corner.  No way for that group to miss it.  We landed at Sheepeater Hot Springs by noon for a restful day.  Everyone soaked in the hot springs, napped and recovered from our prior day activities.    While camped at Sheepeater Hot Springs we saw the National Guard helicopter flying the river in a search and Mike was able to confirm via radio their mission for the day.
 

DAY 3: Sheepeater Hot Springs to Marble Creek 

We are now in the middle section of the river where most of the water is big fun waves.  Our major challenge for today was Pistol Creek.  Pistol Creek is a tight s-turn where you need to avoid the wall on the left for most of the ride and then the ugly rock at bottom right.  Our first subgroup ran on to Pistol Creek.  I had an extremely ugly run with two 360-degree turns as I flushed down the left side.  I walked back to watch the second group, most had a good run however Lee did not.  His boat went vertical in the recirculating area between two rock out croppings.  He dove for the toe bar in order to keep it from back flipping backwards.  He then had two out of boat experiences in the same hole.  He climbed back onto his boat the first time and was trying to get his oars when he fell over backwards with his feet straight in the air between the tube and oar.  He held on, turned around, recovered into the boat, climbed back into the seat and flushed downstream. At Dolly Lake we saw there was a red Aquillies overturned and circling in the huge eddy, filled with logs.  Mike, Bo and I went in to investigate it and tie it off.  At one point Mike had it corralled and I was controlling his boat but he lost it because he did not have a rope.  Bo eventually jumped from his boat onto the overturned boat and found a flip line that we could tie it off with.  Our second subgroup stopped and flipped it right side up.  They found the initials JAS and some gear marked with Jessie.  We had no idea what party it belonged to because we had not heard about any additional carnage.  We lunched in Indian Creek and reported the overturned raft to Ranger Rick.  Later we learned that the boat had flipped way up at Murph’s Hole and was lost due to no flip lines or wrap rope. It was from the Barry Hatch group.

 No word on the missing boater from Marsh Creek.  Rick agreed to send emails to our wives that all were safe in our group.  We had no idea whether they would see news coverage about the missing boaters.  There were other groups that were flying into Indian Creek to start their trips.  From this point on campsites are assigned in order to spread the groups out over the river.  We made the rest of the run to Marble Creek camp without incident.

Day 4:  Marble Creek to Lower Grouse Creek Camp

This was an easy water day with our group splitting into three floats.  Some bathed at Sunflower Hot Springs.  I was floating with Vince when he crashed against a large rock creating a recirculating hole on river left.   He surfed in all directions while holding on to his seat and then flushed out.  A Middle Fork shark took a large bite out of his blade.  At Whitey Cox Hot Springs we visited with another group and learned the sheriff closed the Marsh Creek the day after we left.  They reported two boaters were missing.  This was the first we heard about a second missing boater.  We could not confirm until getting off the river.  The ice chest hanging in the front of boat was stopping me in big waves.  Because of bigger water downstream I spent the afternoon reconfiguring my frame in 96-degree temperatures.  It was my night to provide appetizers, brie with chutney sauce and smoked salmon.  Kyle and Vicki prepared spaghetti and everyone ate well again.

It was this day that we learned of the second drowning on Marsh creek the 25th, when we were on it. Info was unclear of what happened. We later learned that a raft hit a rock bar and the passenger fell outof the back of the boat. While attempts were made to retrieve him back into the boat, the boat drifted downstream and wrapped on a large rock. The floater disappeared and has still not been found.
 

Day 5: Lower Grouse to Driftwood

Everyone was up early, Han’s cooked a big breakfast and we were ready for the water at 9:15 a.m.  Lots of big wood was floating by and at the safety meeting we had discussed an appropriate signal.  Some wanted to whistle and point at the logs but we did not want to confuse this with the safe route signal.  The decision was to blow your whistle, give a danger sign of crossed arms and let the other person spot the wood on their own.  Two subgroups today with eight and five boats.  Water moving fast with lots of big waves.  My new frame setup was cutting the water much better so it was worth all of the work.  So much wave action that I could not distinguish Tappen Falls from any other rapid.  We regrouped at the Flying B to buy souvenirs and beer.  They were out of fudgesicles, my first trip down the Middle Fork without one, hope this doesn’t ruin my river karma for the rest of the trip.  River gage is now reported at 7.45 feet with speculation that it had been over 8 feet.  No reading on the Selway yet.  We had lots of discussion about what the options were on Selway vs. Main Salmon trips; guess we’ll see tomorrow.

You can take any route you choose through Haystack Rapids below the Flying B, the large rock at the bottom was covered creating a pour over.  Jack Creek was long and big, I grabbed the toe bar once.  Without the change in frame setup I would have stalled out and had problems.  No carnage this day and all arrived safe in Driftwood camp.  Expecting high water tomorrow in Impassible Canyon.  This is the third time I have stayed at Driftwood.  The beach is gone due to high water but we still had nice camping on the upper bench.  Large logs and trees continued to float by all afternoon.

We found a raft frame, oars and wooden drybox 100 yards from the river covered with large pieces of bark. There was a note that read:

“Due to high water and safety concerns we are leaving the raft here. We will be back in a few days to pick it up. Please leave the gear alone.”

Day 6: Driftwood To Take Out at Cache Bar

Everyone was up early because of the anticipation of big water and being ready to go on the last day.  We decided to run as a single group for safety and for following the routes set through the big water by boaters who had experience near this level.  No one had ever been on it at 7.5 feet before.  We were ready to go at 9:30 a.m.  Camp to Waterfall Creek was moving fast with quite a bit of wood.  Waterfall Creek was spectacular as the water pounded down on the bridge.  At this point the trails paralleling the river branch off into the hills and you enter the Impassible Canyon in which there are only two routes out.  Either straight up over very large mountains or down river.

We put the two round boats in the middle of our pack for safety and worked to stay together as we continued down river.  I was fourth from the back and had been following Kyle and Vicki most of the day.  However, we began moving faster as the river constricted as the canyon narrowed.  An eddy line grabbed Kyle’s boat and I passed him a ¼ mile above Webber.  Porcupine and Red Side had all blended together in a series of large continuous waves.  As I entered Webber the waves were gigantic as I rode down into the drop.  I crested the second wave and was banged from behind.  I turned and saw a 30 foot log inserted between the tubes and against the back of my frame.  I bailed to the side of the wave train to get away from the log and let it pass.  I whistled to Vicki and gave the danger sign as a warning.  I heard a second whistle and looked over my right shoulder and saw Jim who was running the sweep boat and thought all was O.K.  A third whistle and I looked over my left shoulder and there was Kyle, swimming with his whistle in his mouth followed by an upside down boat.  I ferried back in the wave train and began pulling back up river waiting for Kyle to catch up.  I ferried half way across the river and he slid between the tubes and grabbed on.  We hit the flat water and I told him it was a good time to climb.  Up the gear he came as Vicki and I eddied out.  Jim and Lee were in pursuit of Kyle’s boat as it passed but were not able to corral it.  I gave chase with Kyle on top of my gear.  I flipped 180 degrees so I was facing backwards and doing power strokes.  Kyle navigated telling me what rocks and ledges were coming up.  Vicki slowed Kyle’s boat down by bumping.  We caught up to it, Kyle jumped to his boat and tied it off with a line attached to mine.  With him in tow I pushed like crazy for river right.  I felt like the boat would not move but I was prying small amounts of headway out of it with each stroke.  Others joined in and surrounded the boat trying to bump it into the eddy.  We finally landed on river right and I collapsed across the toe bar totally out of breath.  15 minutes and 1.3 miles of the hardest rowing I have ever done.  Others helped Kyle re-flip his boat.  He had cracked another blade but that appeared to be the only damage.  We still had Cliff Side and Rubber ahead of us.  We all hugged the left sidewall at Cliff Side while confused crashing waves and laterals were in the center and right of river.  We did a right side sneak at Rubber around the hole, which was large enough to hold a Grey Hound bus on its side.  The entire run out rapids, Hancock, Devils Tooth, House Rock and Jump Off all melted into a single series of wave trains as we quickly approached the end of our trip.  Janice swam but quickly got back to her boat as we turned the corner to join the Main Salmon, the water got bigger but easier to run.  At Cache Bar we eddied out above it and landed the boats one at a time.  Barry Brazell’s group was also on the ramp so we had many helping hands to land the boats.

The Main Salmon gauge at Corn Creek was over 45,000 CFS.  We estimated that it would be well over 100,000 CFS at the White Bird Gauge.  Marvin Smith the shuttle driver had brought a Selway graph that showed the river was at 9.7 feet and rising.  Our cutoff point was 8 feet and dropping so we all agreed to cancel the Selway trip.  We shifted into derigging mode.    As we were derigging the sky turned dark, which added to our conviction to cancel the trips, then a ferocious hailstorm hit.  For ten minutes hailstones the size of marbles crashed around us while everyone dove for shelter. Those planning on the Main Salmon run also cancelled siting the hailstorm as an omen and as two full sized Ponderosa pines passed the take out.  One still had all of its branches needles and root ball intact.  The other was from a fire wash out and had many vicious branches protruding from the stump. The sky cleared again we finished derigging happy that everyone in our group is safe off the river and headed home.
 

Water Levels   Gage Height     CFS

May 25    6.6     8800
        26    6.8     9500
        27    6.8     9500
       28     7.0   10000
       29     7.5   11000
       30     8.0   13000

Source USCS Website  

Group,

I just returned from a Middle Fork trip which launched on Marsh creek
Sunday 5-25 when the two men from different groups drowned. First, I
want to express my sympathy and condolences to the parties and loved
ones of these men. I will tell you what I know. Info was scratchy, in
fact we didn't know about the Yancey drowning until Wednesday. I believe
we passed both groups as there were people boats and gear scattered for
miles down March Creek.

The log is about 6 miles down and comes 100 yards after a blind corner
with no eddy. The Marsh Creek gauge read 5.2' (up from 4.8' Saturday
when Ted Day ran it). As we came around the corner it appeared there
would be enough room to run under the right side (The MF gauge was
6.6'). Unfortunately, even taking the hole on far right the river pushed
you to the center, requiring immediate action of jumping between your
tubes in a cat or hugging the floor in a raft. Our group of 13 boats all
made it and managed to stay together (we ran Marsh in 2 groups for
safety). There are very few eddies on Marsh Creek at this level and it
was a big class IV read and run; With some class V thrown in. You could
easily argue the entire run as class V given the remoteness.

It was at the log where the other two groups got separated and spread
out. As our group went past numerous boaters on the side no one waved
for help or said they were missing anyone. Of course the farther down
the less the boaters knew and were just waiting.

We arrived at Dagger and at much to my surprise were able to park 11
cats and 2 rafts. We set safety, and I was one of the first group of 4
to run. Mike and I stayed as boat rescue as did the rope throwers. The
next group of 3 came down and Mike and I switched with them and went to
the viewing platform. This is where I first met the Bartley group. They
seemed calm and I think in a great deal of shock. They said he was a
very experienced boater but was complacent that day and didn't wear a
life jacket or helmet. One in the group wished they had seen him launch
and would have asked him to wear safety. His passenger confirmed and was
extremely quiet. As the rest of our group ran Dagger we had one raft
caption swim. we secured the boat in the eddy right below Dagger and 2
boats went to his rescue and picked him up a quarter mile down.

As we were leaving, one in the group wrote the following note for us to
deliver to Rick at Indian Creek. And this is a verbatim quote from the
note:

"Matt Bartley,
Hamilton Montana
Wife = XXXXXXXXXX

Matt knocked out of his boat after hitting head on log across entire
river. Not wearing life jacket or helmet.
Searched - no result; feared dead.

Contact: xxxxxxxxx"

My impression of the group size was more like 5-7 rather the 21 as
stated in the Missoulian. We had the large group on the river that day.

As we were exhausted from Marsh Creek and Dagger (And there was a Dory
parked at the camp in Dagger), we camped at Gardel's hole. A group of 6
very experienced cat boaters stopped by our camp and requested to stay
as they had someone with flu like symptoms. Since I knew and had boated
many class V rivers with all of them, they were cheerfully welcomed and
shared our dinner.

Day 2 we decided to take a short day to Sheepeater and the hot springs.
We had an radio with us and were able to make contact with two planes
and relay the info from the note to them.

Day 3 as we headed down river we came upon a group in camp and
discovered they had lost a boat and gear and they asked if we found it
to put it on shore. Within the next 1.5 miles we saw a dry bag hanging
from a log tripod and the a blue raft uprighted like a lean two. (I
discovered later that Ted Day and his group had done this recovery the
day before).

When we got to Dolly Lake we discovered an upside-down 15.5" Red
Achilles raft. ( we had one in our group and feared the worst). We
worked our way in through the 20-50' timber and with 4 ropes and pulley
managed to right the boat. Only one oar remaining, broken seat etc. and
not from our group. When we reached Indian creek we gave all the info to
Ranger Rick about the missing person and the note. We also told him
about the Red raft: the name on the gear and the initials. He indicated
that he had recently fished a dry bag from the river with that name. He
had no additional knowledge about the passengers or what happened. The
boat could have traveled a long ways or flipped in velvet.

We headed down to Marble and camped.

Day 4 camped at Lower Grouse. Very few other boaters on the river.

Day 5  Camped at Driftwood where we discovered a raft frame, oars and
wooden dry box 100 yards up the hill and covered with Bark. There was a
note that said, and I quote:

"Because of very high water and safety concerns, we decided to pull off
the river here.

We would greatly appreciate it if you would leave the gear here.

We will return after a few days to remove it.

Thanks Much"
 
 

We made it to the Take out Friday around 1pm, only to learn that the
Selway was at 9.7' and rising. I had a Selway permit for the next day,
May 31st. Having seen enough tragedy and having mucho common sense, we
all decided to go elsewhere. There were four who were going to turn the
corner and do the main, but after a 20 minute hail storm that left 2" of
dime sized hail on the ground, they too decided to move to other waters.
It was a bad omen indeed. (Not to mention the 70' logs heading down the
main.

I headed with this group to Stanley to get their rig and we decided to
run the Granjean section of the SF Payette from Warm Springs campground
to below Kirkem Hot Springs.  We had a great run at 5,800 cfs, very
confused and pushy water, big surf holes. We got about 13 miles down
when we saw a note on a tripod and a dray bag on another. Our shuttle
driver had discovered a river wide log that was impossible to get around
located right at Kirkem. We looked for an alternate take out and
shortened our trip. We decided someone was telling us to not push our
luck and get off the rivers.

Although the staircase run looked very tempting and some of my buds are
up there today.

Epilog:

As we picked up a rig at marsh creek yesterday the 31st, Marsh creek was
considerably fuller at the top then when we launched and there were just
3 vehicles at the put in; kayaks all. My advice, stay home until the
road is open or the MF gage is under 5 feet... and be ready for some
quick ducking action.

Enjoyed the river, our group.  Very humbled by the tragedy,

Vince

of the Missoulian

HAMILTON-The three scouts in kayaks had barely set off down Marsh Creek on Sunday morning when they saw the problem.

A log hung across the narrow creek that eventually becomes part of the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. The run past the log was doable, but it required a good set-up, precision rowing and a last-second duck to make sure the paddlers got underneath the log.

Larry Daum pulled his kayak out of the creek and ran back upstream to tell the remaining 14 members of the paddling party about the obstacle. Jimmy Montieth, a passenger in a raft rowed by Matt Bartley, later told his friends that he and Bartley heard Daum's warning in time to get ready for the run past the log.

"Matt was the most skilled oarsman in our group," said Jim Haynes, a District Court judge from Hamilton who was part of the paddling group. "He was just a superior rafter."

Craig Stirling, in a kayak, and a raft paddled by Paul Haynes, were nearby as Bartley moved his boat into position. Sitting up front, Montieth got down as the raft's bow cleared the log, and the oarlocks came under without hitting the log.

"We will never know why Matt didn't get down," Jim Haynes said Thursday, just hours after he and most of the group were flown off the river. "Maybe he tried to take one more stroke."

As his companions watched, Hartley, a Hamilton contractor, was knocked out of the boat by the log. Although it hardly seemed possible, he never came up.

"We had four sets of eyes on him and they never saw him," Haynes said.

Montieth got to the oars, Haynes said, but was quickly swept into another logjam. Within moments, another raft from another party swept under the big log and collided with Montieth. Those boats got entangled and then Montieth was swimming. Within seconds, yet another party came through the mess with two women in the water.

"Within minutes, we'd gone from having a pleasant breakfast to just a disastrous situation," Haynes said.

Just the night before, the mood had been hopeful and upbeat. A handful of the 17 people - paddling three rafts, three cata-rafts and nine kayaks on the trip had been doing the 100-plus-mile Middle Fork trip together for years, and although the river was high, the five miles they'd floated on Saturday had left them confident.

"We'd gotten in tune with the river and it felt good," Haynes said

. Now that confidence and good will were shattered.

The boaters gathered themselves and continued to search for their friend, but they also knew they had to move downstream. They covered the dozen or so miles to Dagger Falls, where they made camp. Haynes and two others hiked several miles to an airstrip, where they were able to get a note about the tragedy to a pilot, who made sure Nansu Haynes, Jim's wife, was notified.

"I knew that she could get the word out about what happened," Haynes said.

Back in camp, the boaters sat in a circle and shared, person by person, their recollection of the day.

"It felt like we had just had our heart cut out. We needed to get clear on what happened," Haynes said. "We knew Matt wasn't going to come walking into the camp that night."

They also had to decide what to do next. They decided to lay over on Memorial Day, working through every aspect of their river-safety precaution, Haynes said.

"We'd lost our best boatman, and if the river can do that, it can do anything," Haynes said. "We knew there was no room for complacency."

The group, now 16, put on river again Tuesday, with a plan to take out at the Indian Creek guard station. The moved downstream carefully, even more mindful of the deadly consequences of a mistake.

"We just had to make sure we were doing everything right, being as careful as we could be," Haynes said.

In a way, the trip became an almost mechanical event. The boaters, Haynes said, had been robbed of their spirit, and the journey was no longer about recreation and enjoyment; it was all about getting back home, about telling Jo Gmazel, Matt's wife what had happened to her husband.

"Once our heart was taken out, it was time to come home and give her whatever information we could, and show respect to her," Haynes said. "We didn't have that spirit, an attitude you usually have when you're on the river ... We had to pay attention to that."

The boaters reached Indian Creek on Wednesday and most made arrangements to be flown out Thursday morning. Four boaters stayed on to paddle to Cache Bar, the usual takeout on the main fork of the Salmon, but the other 12 turned for home.

Haynes flew direct to Hamilton and headed straight for the Bartley-Gmazel home.

"It was time to go and see Jo," he said.

Reporter Michael Moore can be reached at 370-3330 or at mmoore@missoulian.com.