Read Online The Deadly River by Jeff Noonan - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jeff Noonan
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provided copies of the Forest Service’s topographical maps covering all of western Montana, including the winding path of the Clark Fork River. Kurt had already been working on them and had laid out the areas to be rafted on the first few days. He showed his two helpers his preliminary plans for the project. “I figure we’ll be able to plan our progress a lot better after we do this for a day or two.”
As he studied the maps, it dawned on Lee that this would be a bigger project than he had anticipated. He was happy that he hadn’t taken it on. It would definitely take the whole summer to finish the job. The first day’s starting point was about 150 miles east of St. Dubois. Then the river came west, passing through Missoula and several smaller communities before it reached St. Dubois. Then the project would take them north and west for almost another two hundred miles before the Clark Fork dumped into Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho.
But the maps really excited Lee. They were far better than the maps he’d been using to find his father’s lake. The Forest Service’s maps were more detailed and had recently been updated to show new logging roads and trails through the forests.
Soon they got into the actual day’s work and Lee began to see why Kurt had asked for his help. The two rafts were identical war-surplus lifeboats made of some kind of hard rubber covered in black and grey canvas. They had seats and oarlocks and each had a frame, but they weren’t assembled. The water sampling equipment, which was equallydisorganized and scattered, consisted primarily of crates of small Mason Jars with lids and a complex labeling machine. The jars alone filled an entire room in one of the Forest Service’s outbuildings.
The three men went to work, using tools that Kurt had on-site for the purpose. First they sorted the raft parts into two piles. One raft was to be assembled and the second was to be stored in case a spare was needed later. They worked quietly and steadily. Soon the first raft began to take shape
As they worked, Kurt described his vision for the project. The plan was for the raft to be driven to the start point, where the first day’s sample jars would be loaded on the raft. Then the samples taken each day would fill the jars. The full jars would be labeled as the samples were taken. Then, once a week, Kurt would drive the day’s samples to the university in Missoula where the samples would be tested and recorded.
While they were taking a break close to the end of the work day, Lee broached the subject of the maps. “Kurt, I noticed that you have Forest Service maps of all of Western Montana. What are you going to do with the maps in that stack that show areas that aren’t on the river?”
“Hell, I dunno. Throw them out, I guess. I sure don’t plan to take them all aboard the raft with me. Why? Do you have a use for them?”
“Yeah. I’d really like to have them. I’ve been doing a lot of camping and fishing. These maps are a lot better than what I have.”
“You got ‘em. Let’s take a minute and separate them. As long as I have the river covered, I don’t need the others.” With that, the two men laid the maps out on a big conference table and began sorting them. As they went along, Lee realized that he had a windfall here. These maps showed lakes that he’d never heard of before; lakes that definitely weren’t on his commercial maps! Maybe these maps were the key that he’d needed to find his father’s elusive lake! He was excited.
By evening, the raft was finished and the load was aboard a pickup, ready to leave at the break of dawn on Monday. The three workers rode to the truck stop and Kurt bought dinner. After eating, Lee wandered over to the garage and found that Ray was just finishing with the water pump replacement. Lee helped him get water and anti-freeze into the car’s cooling system, then the two of them took it for a ride.
As they finished the test ride, Lee
As he studied the maps, it dawned on Lee that this would be a bigger project than he had anticipated. He was happy that he hadn’t taken it on. It would definitely take the whole summer to finish the job. The first day’s starting point was about 150 miles east of St. Dubois. Then the river came west, passing through Missoula and several smaller communities before it reached St. Dubois. Then the project would take them north and west for almost another two hundred miles before the Clark Fork dumped into Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho.
But the maps really excited Lee. They were far better than the maps he’d been using to find his father’s lake. The Forest Service’s maps were more detailed and had recently been updated to show new logging roads and trails through the forests.
Soon they got into the actual day’s work and Lee began to see why Kurt had asked for his help. The two rafts were identical war-surplus lifeboats made of some kind of hard rubber covered in black and grey canvas. They had seats and oarlocks and each had a frame, but they weren’t assembled. The water sampling equipment, which was equallydisorganized and scattered, consisted primarily of crates of small Mason Jars with lids and a complex labeling machine. The jars alone filled an entire room in one of the Forest Service’s outbuildings.
The three men went to work, using tools that Kurt had on-site for the purpose. First they sorted the raft parts into two piles. One raft was to be assembled and the second was to be stored in case a spare was needed later. They worked quietly and steadily. Soon the first raft began to take shape
As they worked, Kurt described his vision for the project. The plan was for the raft to be driven to the start point, where the first day’s sample jars would be loaded on the raft. Then the samples taken each day would fill the jars. The full jars would be labeled as the samples were taken. Then, once a week, Kurt would drive the day’s samples to the university in Missoula where the samples would be tested and recorded.
While they were taking a break close to the end of the work day, Lee broached the subject of the maps. “Kurt, I noticed that you have Forest Service maps of all of Western Montana. What are you going to do with the maps in that stack that show areas that aren’t on the river?”
“Hell, I dunno. Throw them out, I guess. I sure don’t plan to take them all aboard the raft with me. Why? Do you have a use for them?”
“Yeah. I’d really like to have them. I’ve been doing a lot of camping and fishing. These maps are a lot better than what I have.”
“You got ‘em. Let’s take a minute and separate them. As long as I have the river covered, I don’t need the others.” With that, the two men laid the maps out on a big conference table and began sorting them. As they went along, Lee realized that he had a windfall here. These maps showed lakes that he’d never heard of before; lakes that definitely weren’t on his commercial maps! Maybe these maps were the key that he’d needed to find his father’s elusive lake! He was excited.
By evening, the raft was finished and the load was aboard a pickup, ready to leave at the break of dawn on Monday. The three workers rode to the truck stop and Kurt bought dinner. After eating, Lee wandered over to the garage and found that Ray was just finishing with the water pump replacement. Lee helped him get water and anti-freeze into the car’s cooling system, then the two of them took it for a ride.
As they finished the test ride, Lee
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