So the million dollar question? Why try to navigate up this small pristene river in "about a sixteen foot sled" as Big John originally quoted came to my mind. I checked flows for the Skookumchuck on that particular day and the river was on the rise so they had the water even if they didn't in most minds have the room to navigate.
One thing BigJohn didn't tell us, was he fishing downstream near Centralia or further up by Bucoda where the river gets really small. Not that it will make much difference here. What will make a difference here is that this is not the first time in this river's history that a sled has been on it nor will it be the last. The big difference is that it is not an every day occurance, and most likely just three very bored guys thinking, Should we try it up there?
Of course we will never know what they were thinking, and the river is still there, somewhat scared, none the less pristene.