I don't know how exact that text is, but, to me, especially when talking to a new paddler, it really downplays the complexity and risk that can be in class III rapids and the advanced skill that's required to negotiate class IV in a canoe.
Also, a lot depends on whether a river has calm stretches between the rapids, or whether it's continuous (which can depend on water level). The scale as described above makes class III sound reasonable, but it's not.
PY.
p.s. Bored, I love your enthusiam for exploring this river! Enjoy it!
agreed with Yarnel Cl. 3 can be pretty hairy in my opinion. Even cl.2 can get you capsized or swamped if you’re not on your game. From my experience cl. 2 seems to cover a real broad range of conditions.
Wiki has a minumum of info about the river, including some pictures, one when levels are normal are low and a couple in flood stage. But, there’s not a lot of other info about the river. USGS does have some gauges on the river.
Boredsomebody… I don’t know much about the 102, but here’s what I do know or can guess with confidence…
It isn’t listed in the floating and canoing book that the Conservation Department puts out, so it’s not anything close to a popular canoing river.
There are only two sections that aren’t channelized, and therefore those two sections are the only places that probably aren’t ugly. One is from Arkoe to Barnard. The other is from Rosendale to the public access south of Savannah.
The only USGS gage on it is at Maryville, above the good sections, so might not be too much help. I note that normal flow at Maryville this time of year is 20 cubic feet per second, so I’d guess that during normal water levels there wouldn’t be much water for good floating until you get down to the lower section around Savannah.
I assume this is a typical northwest Missouri river. It will usually be murky to muddy. It will slow, class 1 at most, but likely to be log-jammed in places. As you say, the banks are usually high and steep on these streams, so if you come to a big log jam, it won’t be easy to get past it. You may have to do some serious climbing up the bank, and the only way to get gear and canoe up to the top of the bank may be to drag it up by rope. And if you get a bank to bank logjam that’s exactly what you’ll have to do. I’ve floated a couple of streams like this, and logjams aren’t fun. And if the stream is high (anything on this stream that’s much above 150 cfs at Maryville is probably too high) those logjams and strainers can be VERY dangerous.
On the other hand, if the conditions are right and the logjams aren’t bad, it could be a wonderful trip.
There are a lot of things you can do to learn more about it. Scouting the whole stretch you plan to do by foot probably isn’t practical. But you can get topo maps of that stretch from the MO Geological Survey, or look at the same topos online at Topozone.com. From the maps you can measure distances, and if you know how to read the maps you can get an idea of how fast the stream drops (its gradient). I’d be surprised if the gradient is more than 2-3 feet per mile.
However much you learn about this stream beforehand, my suggestion is to keep checking the USGS gage at Maryville, and don’t do this river unless the gage reads less than 100 cfs. A higher flow will make floating the shallow spots easier, but will make strainers and logjams more dangerous. Any lower than about 50 cfs and it’s likely you’ll be dragging the canoe over all the shallow areas.
As for legal navigability…Missouri law on this is basically that IF the stream has often been floated in the past, it’s legal to float it. The actual case law is that if the stream was ever used for commerce (generally for floating logs to market) it gives the public a legal right to float it, fish it, and get out on the banks below the high water mark to portage around obstructions. But on a stream like the 102, things are really murky. The northern Missouri streams were seldom used to float logs, they aren’t often floated, and in many places the bank and the high water mark are one and the same. Chances are nobody will mind you floating it, especially if you don’t do anything stupid. But you’re floating in a gray area of the law. On the lower section I mentioned, there is definitely a public access with a boat ramp (I saw it on the Delorme Atlas) so chances are that section is fished and floated some, and there would definitely not be any problems floating it. Your biggest problem might be finding access, unless the bridges have decent parking areas and a path to the river.
I could not determine if you owned a canoe or not. There are so many canoes out there and many would be difficult to solo and portage. Have you researched this? This is where I began my research last winter, as I set out to enter the world of paddling.
I enjoyed the Canoesports Outfitters show in Indianola, IA last February (close to your neighborhood?). Though they tend to cater more to kayakers they do carry many canoes. The show itself is interesting no matter what you paddle as they have many presenters and much information about paddling in general. They really got me stoked up about paddling, anyway.
As a rookie last year, I spend most of my time on the Kaw River between Lawrence and KC. It was a great place to develop my skills and the river had quite a range of heights throughout the year. You just need to understand that you’re a novice and make plans accordingly.
I wish I had more canoeing partners, but the reality is I don’t. For me, I truely enjoyed this past year on the water and I learned a lot about paddling. Every time I paddled my skills and confidence grew, but I can say I never overlooked the potential for danger. I went out in different conditions and learned much regarding each circumstance.
My paddling took me to the beautiful Buffalo National River in Arkansas, which I highly recommend. Once again, there is much to choose from in regards to degree of difficulty there. I also enjoyed paddling the area lakes too. Later in the summer, after paddling hundreds of miles and many hours on small to medium sized rivers and lakes, I took my canoe out on the Missouri River. That was fun too.
Each new experience you go thru gives you its own rewards. Just know that when you’re soloing your canoe, the day’s paddle may have problems and/or dangers and you cannot count on someone to bail you out. That said, you will be quite refreshed by your paddling if it is truely in your blood. If not, you will quietly give it up and take up cycling the Katy Trail or hiking the numerous walking trails throughout this area. Not to say those wouldn’t be fun and refreshing too.