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Show - , . . - . . . . . - , -i. , ,.. , , , , - - I --:-- . irew? APNPPartrilelatt,T - - - - - .. , . 1 . , , - , . ,,, .. ,. . ,' .. , , -- - - I , . .... k' ,- ' .. I : ,,,. 4 - . . 0...........4. .. ..... .., , , , . , , ,,;, ;- -:. .......-0- - jtri , , , 0, , . - ,4 -- , - . ..., .. . t. . - , , 1 ,,. , : , ; - , ?... t7k i x.:- -, .." . ' 'irt A...1 ,, ....,, .., , .'.,1 i 1,1: ,al,i I 4. .,. :.:.. - k P .: , "'" ki --' e. 1.; ::- - Al - ,, . 14: - t ' 4 ,' 4- . N..... - e:,-- - i , ,19 .7. - v.. , : t i., ' ' .. ' 4 : ; ., t I- -:- ' ,,,'...... , r:::":' - , ii - i' 4.- t - 3 ., - II: e ' .' ' ' '. ',' I, ; .' .:.. - . A. . 0 ' 4 , . ' '''''. '''.1.1 - , ,40- ' - - , ',( - ' . . , , 3- Allr 1.,...7..0.,, -- '7,:....,e,-e'!-- . . j ' ...- , . Jly RAY NieGUIRE' - ' f ----- r7----------------- A k .. t .. )., . , ,,,.., - ' .. ...... . W HY IS IT a woman, a little, pint- sized gal at that, will dare to take off on the river alone- ,- when a man wouldn't? This rhetorical question was raised - as Miss Florence Kibler, Chicago art teacher, prepared to re- sume her historic solo trip down the muddy, treacherous Colorado River. ad- y The beginning of her venture didn't augur its success. testing the outboard motor on her rubber Navy assault boat, nervous Pilot Kibler 'came in for a landing at Art Chaffin's automobile ferry at Hite. Utah. and almost slid the boat under the ferry. Her second trial was art teacher better, so the took off in her boat leaving a handful of husky men at the ferry landing shaking their head's at the prospects of what might happen to a lone woman on )67 zmiles of the most rugged. most inaccessible river channel in the country. The boat, informally christened eotoff 0t-i the chocolate current, but had progressed less than a quarter mile when the first of a harrowing first day occurred. The motor. slipped off ck, new motor mount. For- tunately, the motor had been secured by a safety rope attached to one side. It held, and 4he perspiring pilot was able to haul the on its mount But it promptly fell off again, so Miss Kibler allowed her boat to drift to shore. This was an inauspicious begin- fling for the first W01118,11'S solo trip down the Colorado, but Miss Kibler was undaunted, and equal to the oc-casion; She found a piece of rope in her waterproof duffel bag and secured the motor on the other side.. Then , she cranked the rtiZttor but it refused , .. ; - '-- ,, , -- - , . ,,, er A - . . start. Across the - . , ,.... ' á . N . ,, . J. planning went into the dramatic M. lie,t-- journey 167-mi- le , . ,widowed 'mother's farm in the tiny, meals' prepared to satisfy -the hearty appetites of river travelers.-- Miss Kibler paddled her boat cross river, and beached it, removing the cover of her motor so that the sparkplugs would heat, (try out in the plus and walked through the pasture to the ranch house. of his youth, he is a, veteran river man, sought by river running parties because of his brawn and his knowl- of Mrs.- Porter's - famous . 100-degr- ee - ' 1 , i 'i - Ranch some hailing wire, and P,s- - sibly-o- ne -- motor-back--- river was Porter's 4, of , - to . - er nd it,, this petite Chicago art teacher made down the roaring Celothdoas the whole country watched and waited nd , . 4! .. , the-sli- - ;. , ...- 111 , - -- near-disast- . . , 110-pou- nd . . ., ) ) , 400-pou- ,, . er- seven-passeng- N.,,,,, ..... I7-da- --While- ... , , :,,,, .. .. .Too thick to nlowse r It was while Farnurn Young, Mrs . Porter's son, was wiring the motor to the mount that he raised the foregoing question on why a woman would dare attemptsuch a trip. Young Mr. Young doesn't know much about women, but he does know the Colorado River. For years he has lived along the Colorado, whose muddy streamfrequently described as -too thick to stir, too thin to plow- -rolls by the fertile oasis of his . soWaLtutramu.olly-o- l , edge of the giver. rarnum Young knew of the, dangets of a lone passage, even on this relatively smooth section of the river. A person alone in-- a tiny boat on a large river, dwarfed by abrupt sandstone cliffs that reatiipwards-as-higIas 3000 feet, is fighting a constant tle against panic and loneliness, the relentless river, and unpredicted winds. An Upset boat, a fractured ankle, a collision with an overhanging cliff, a boat set adrift from mooringall these likely mishaps. and many more unexpected Ones. could leave a person marooned And hurt, and miles from assistance. No one lives on this stretch of 167 miles.except at the starting and tin cure lin-inse- mom ishing ' points, and emergency help It's for these reasons that river running expeditions conducted by ex perienced - guides normally take a minimum of three persons on regular trips, and why even trips by two responsible men are looked upon as risky. For larger parties, the. risks are negligible, and several huildred Explorer Scouts have made the mishap. - trip-witho- Fifty-fift- chance y Miss Kibler was not unaware of the hazards of a solo trip. She had made the trip the summer before irt party: conducted under the river-wis- e guidance of Stewar.t Campbell of Utah Wonderland Stages. And en route to the river for this trip. she had been lectured by him on the Inadvisability of making the try alone At the Hite landing. she overheard Ed Jenkins of 'Salt Lake City NEWS MAGAZINE. SALT LAKE arf. UTAM-000- S. It541 |