In a single week, the rivers have risen a great deal, but the North Thompson is ahead of the South Thompson, so much so that it has backed up the South Thompson's progress.   One week ago, I paddled the South Thompson and the river had its usual slow flow, but this week the river was sluggish.   I paddled downstream from Pioneer Park to the confluence and it was clear that the North Thompson River was flowing powerfully.   All of the sandbars were covered, foam and debris were on the river and speed of the river was noticeably faster.  

A little farther back, I spotted a beaver lodge on the downriver side of the train bridge near to  the north shore and silently glided downstream only a few feet away.   Sitting on top were two beavers basking in the sun.   The female dove into the river and slapped the water with her tail.   The lodge is intact thanks to the slowing of the river at the confluence only a short distance downstream.   The South Thompson River has backed up and risen on both sides upstream  from the confluence.

Paddling around Indian Point is a little tricky, but there is a small back eddy right at the point to help the turn.   Going upriver on the North Thompson now is all hard work.   It took close to a half an hour to just get up to the shore parallel with St. Joseph's Church.   The sandbar here becomes an island at freshet and a boat can steer through a narrow channel.  

The South Thompson is dark, but not really muddy.   The North Thompson is muddy, brown, and foamy.   A bown foam line points straight to the beach at Riverside Park, then turns west.   The river downstream stays muddy and the foam disperses a bit, but can even be seen from the top of Mount Mara.

As Shuswap Lake rises, the South Thompson will swell and the volume of both rivers meeting at the confluence will slow both down and raise the river north and east.   We will paddle through the confluence at each phase to witness the seasons of the rivers.