Swimmer!

Val bought a Poke Boat from a guy in Billings recently, so we paddled the Yellowstone River today to try it out. We put-in at Springdale and paddled down to Grey Bear fishing access site - about 10 miles.

None of us had paddled this section of river before and the lower water level caused more rapids than we had expected. I saw Val go around the corner of a gravel bar, then paddle like hell to get over to the right of the rapids. Cassandra was next, but couldn't avoid the rapids and bounced through them. I paddled through a line of rapids spread out across the river, then... Yikes! - I plunged down into a big trough. I paddled hard to get through, then got pounded by the next section of rapids.

When I was almost through the rough water, I looked up and saw the bottom of Cassandra's kayak ahead. She had hit a rock and flipped. I kept watching for her to pop up and it seemed like a LONG time before she finally did. By the time I reached her she had made it to the shallows - very out of breath and frightened because she couldn't get out from under the boat right away. The current grabbed the overturned kayak out of her grip and it floated downstream. I was able to catch up with it and maneuver it into the eddy, then pull it onto the beach to drain the water.

It was a good place to stop for lunch and let the adrenalin rush subside. We agreed that we don't want to paddle that section again soon. We're all leisure paddlers and don't really want to challenge big rapids - wildlife viewing is more our style. Val sure got to test the maneuverability of her new boat and she's very pleased with her purchase.

Goodbye, Little Pepper

Pepper has been Judy's faithful friend and traveling companion for seventeen years. She used to travel extensively with Judy when she went on tour or was away teaching at her 'Women Making Music' retreats. Little Pepper went to the big doghouse in the sky today and Judy is very sad.