It was out last day of the trip but we still hoped to eke out a little more packrafting joy with a double hitter. We started with a chilly 8.5 mile run down the Snake River between West Table and Sheep Creek. This was actually the first time I was cold on the entire trip and correspondingly the first time I was trying to avoid the meat of the rapids to take a less splashy route through. The Snake was pleasant enough. Many of the longer rapids felt more like riffles at this flow but a couple of the steeper constriction related rapids still had some decent wave trains. We passed a few raft groups on the way down. I think between the moderate interest in the run (compared to the highly stimulating Teton Gorge the day before) and the concern over getting to our flight in Idaho Falls, motivation for another run was lukewarm. After lunch in Alpine, Jeff managed to get us all to rally for another run by talking up the 2.5 mile run on the Greys River from Squaw Creek to the Bridge.
A few minutes later we were staging a car at the takeout, and as it turned out, shuttling some between-run raft guides' two-person catamarans awkwardly to the put-in. This was a much smaller river than the Snake but with considerably better scenery and rapids with fun little drops in them. Before long we caught up to the raft guides and they kept a watchful eye on us, seemingly worried at our capabilities.
The one rapid of consequence on the run is Snaggletooth, a long complex rapid with several holes and a wave train followed by a tight ninety degree turn around a prominent boulder (the "snaggletooth"), then two more notable holes and a run-out wave train. I was to go last, following Dan through the run. I gave him roughly a hundred feet gap to start but as I powered through the rapid I noticed I was quickly gaining on him. Dan made it past the snaggletooth but then flipped and stuck in the large hole just past. I was only fifteen or twenty feet behind him at this point, insufficient time to find another course to take (especially since one of the cats was waiting in the smaller hole to the right) so I went forward, hit his raft and unsurprisingly unflipped. The crew on the cat were quick to fish me out with their panicked guide-like instincts and that was that. I felt robbed knowing I would have made it through the prized rapid upright without last minute boats and people in the way, but guess I learned the value in maintaining a safe trailing distance.
The rest of the run went without incident and we were soon at our take-out. We enjoyed a beer or two and some story swapping with the raft guides before the time came to get to Idaho Falls for our flight back to California.
Thanks to Jeff for masterminding a pleasant week of paddling. Thanks to Kristina, Jesse, and Jeff for all the driving they suffered through!
The 8.5 mile IV+ run down the Teton Gorge from Harrop Bridge to Felt Dam was hands down my favorite run of the whole Idaho trip. It was an exceptional route not only for the high quality of challenging whitewater or scenery, but also the unlikely location of this gorge: here the Teton River has cut a deep and narrow tree-lined gorge through basaltic flows and more intermediate tuff deposits, in what is otherwise a flat barren landscape of Idaho potato fields! Rarely have I ventured for miles across a flat landscape only to approach a great tear in the earth. The Grand Canyon and Rio Grande Gorge are the couple analogies that come to mind.
We had limited information on this run but with some sleuthing were able to find a take-out at Felt Dam and navigate the potato field roads to place our shuttle vehicle. I was looking forward to this run from the respect Jeff seemed to be giving it, but wondered how Dan would fare, this being a considerable step-up in difficulty from the rest of his one week of paddling experience. More so than the previous runs we did together we would have to work as a team, scout carefully, and be sure everyone caught eddies before being sucked over unknown Class IV+ features. We went through at 600 cfs which seemed about right. 700-800 cfs is probably about perfect for an experienced packrafter.
Thankfully we went at 600cfs, not at "YAHOO"!
From the bridge we had a mile or two of slowly moving water and occasional riffles to contend with. We did see some bald eagles which was neat. The river gradually entered a shallow gorge, with basaltic cliffs gradually rising out of the surrounding plains and the river began to steepen. Quite abruptly the river gradient picked up and it was time to put on our game faces. The first rapid or two were excellent- fast and incredibly long with complex whitewater demanding considerable lateral movement to hold the line though ultimately read-and-run. A couple twists and turns in the canyon while still in the rapid brought extra excitement as we scanned with quick looks the upcoming features and responded as quickly as we could. Though there were more difficult rapids, this stretch was easily a highlight for me.
From this first rapid it was fast paced whitewater for several miles. Multiple horizon lines demanded cautious scouting and a few portages by Jesse and Dan (Jeff and I only ended up portaging once due to a nasty rock in a pool, though that would have probably gone too). It was good fun and I was getting my share of adrenaline as I bounced and boofed my way through some great whitewater. Jeff had one brutal flip right at the start of a particularly long and rocky rapid putting me in an intimidating position to follow or portage. I followed and had a rowdy ride. In fact defying my norm I had a clean run, without a single flip. I was quite pleased with the performance of the self-bailing Gnarwhal.
Moments from mishap
In a later rapid Jeff and I had to ferry across the full force of the river just above a messy drop, to be able to take the one clean line on the other side of the river. Jeff made this look easy and when I followed I crossed with only inches to spare. In fact I had to grab onto the mid-river rock and pull myself to safety a couple feet. A close call! Dan had an interesting bail trying to avoid this same feature resulting in some team rescue work to retrieve him.
Jeff looking at the crucial ferry we had to make
We portaged this on account of a shallow rock at the last drop
The rapids continued to be a blast and for the most part were pure read-and-run joy. There were several neat bedrock slab driven rapids including a unique ten foot high feature that was one of the steepest and cleanest tongues I have ever seen. A few more turns and the canyon opened slightly as the rapids abated. Here some lovely textured ignimbrite cliffs lined the river. We even spotted an impressively cold and voluminous spring cascading down the hillside.
A short distance on we hit the slackwater impounded behind Felt Dam, our take out. A steep and warm walk up the dirt road brought us back to the car stashed above the gorge amidst the potato fields. Everyone seemed pumped by the adventure. I was thrilled to be in some challenging whitewater and to have handled it better than I would have thought. Yes I have picked up some skill and courage in the last few years but it is also an impressive testament to the capability of our boats.
Alberton Gorge of the Clark Fork River was a year-round local favorite of Jesse's so I was looking forward to seeing what it was all about. We ended up running from Cyr to Ralph's, a 8 mile run sampling the best whitewater. Kristina and Jesse kindly ran shuttle for us. Wow the put-in was busy. I've never seen such a busy put-in with literal raft traffic and limited waterfront space. Lots of commercial groups and a fair bit of families but few kayakers.
A few riffles and flatwater stretches were interspersed with a few fun rapids in the open Upper Gorge. Here we made decent time paddling past curious rafters. We then turned a corner to see Triple Bridges and the rapid underneath them. This would be the start of the narrower Lower Gorge which housed several very fun rapids worthy of laps.
Fang Rapid
We took our time playing around, in particular on Fang Rapid, the last exciting rapid that was easy to portage. I ran it three separate times and then worked on surfing its main wave. Although I didn't think I would have a chance sticking on the fast and powerful wave, I managed to have a few longer rides approaching ten seconds. This was good fun! The video below contains footage from my best ride.
After a meal and tasty ice cream with Kristina in Missoula we drove back to Hamilton to retrieve Jeff's car and then suffered through another late night Idaho drive, camping on the way to Teton Gorge, our next stop on the whitewater tour. Thanks to Kristina and Jesse for running shuttle.
At the end of our Selway run once back at the car I was getting a little antsy. It took only a few minutes to unpack the boat and get out of clothes but there was still daylight. The others seemed to be in no rush so I decided to stroll down the road to see if I couldn't get a good look at what the Class VI Selway Falls run looked like at 810 cfs. I had no idea what to expect really but what I saw impressed me. True house-sized boulders with whitewater shifting around and under them in a maze of siphons, sieves, and waterfalls. The more I looked at it the more I thought there might be a sane line through it all. Incredibly almost the whole thing could be seen from the road. I paced up and down the road, slowly observing the water and piecing together the pieces. After about twenty minutes of careful study I decided there were some serious consequences to messing up, but that each component seemed to be something I was capable of, and if I could string it all together it would be quite a nice run. I want back to grab the others just before dark, and Jeff and I resurveyed the run together. He came to more-or-less the same conclusion I did: Meaty, scary, but looked like there was a way through and that it was something worth doing. We made plans to give it a try the next morning! The run weighed heavily on my mind that night.
Mandatory sieve portage (probably OK at higher flow)
Jeff instructed Dan and Jesse on where to position themselves in case we need a throw rope safety. Jeff and I suited up and paddled across to check out the first tight drop. The drop would have been ok but there was a low flow sieve just around the corner that did not look to be much fun so we portaged this first obstacle (above). Next up was the longest straightaway of the rapid where our only goal was to stay left, far from the bulk of the flow draining under house sized rocks! We scouted the next section before proceeding, another section that would have been smoother at higher flow. This put us in position for the second half of the rapid which was the real prize. We shot through a narrow pass between rocks and then I pulled hard to cross to the other side of the river. I flipped on a rocky boof while Jeff went smoothly down the tongue on the left side (I should have chosen that line too). I was able to self-rescue easily enough before the frothy 8ft drop ahead. Back in the boat I started to ferry to the eddy above the drop as Jeff and I planned, I looked ahead, saw my line, and then made a split second decision to just go for it. A few aggressive paddle strokes put me right where I wanted and over I went, sticking the landing. Jeff followed taking an unplanned grinding line down the arete but made it look like he meant to.
We re-grouped in the long eddy and continued down the run with two more holes to contend with and then two fun wave trains to complete the rapid. I was stoked and couldn't resist taking another lap since I was here and access was so convenient. The second run I took Jeff's line down the tongue drop (much better) but then botched the eight footer...good. I flipped and got caught against the falls which held me down for enough seconds that I dropped my paddle to be able to swim out. The paddle is probably still swirling around at the bottom of the hole as I type. It was an unfortunate end and I was sad to lose the paddle but happy to have taken on Selway Falls. Obviously it was not Class VI in the conditions we ran it but it was certainly formidable.
Jeff's cut
We then drove on to Missoula, which I found an interesting enough town. We played around at Brennan's Wave in the middle of town. Despite inopportune conditions for a good wave, I picked up a lot of experience in trying to surf and really enjoyed the vibes from the friendly board surfers. After a tasty dinner at a local Indian place we met up with Kristina and found a campsite in the woods.
The only multi-day trip we had planned was a 34 mile float down the Selway River from Shearer Airstrip to Race Creek. The Selway is one of the most coveted rivers in the U.S. owing largely to its highly restrictive permit system: only 50 launches are granted a year. However if flows cooperate it is possible some years to do a post-permit (low flow) run. Here we ran two days after the permit season ended at a flow of about 850 cfs. The Selway River cuts through Idaho's Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, one of the largest and first designated wilderness areas in the U.S. With Jeff in charge of planning I had no idea what to expect. In low flow conditions the first 14 miles from Paradise are supposed to be pretty grim and uninteresting, which is why we arranged to have a chartered plane drop us off at Shearer Airstrip at Mile 13.5. Once I got the first glimpse of how shallow the river was here I knew we made the right choice to fly in. We knew that in the last couple weeks there were fires burning through the area but the reports we heard is that they were mostly out and should not be actively burning along the river. We pulled into the Hamilton Airport hazy and early and our friendly pilot flew us over the smoky continental divide into Idaho.
We unloaded, carried our gear to the river, and began to inflate our packrafts. We found the temperature inexplicably cold here and so waited for the sun to crest the ridge before pushing off into the shallow river. My expectations were pretty low considering the shallow bump-and-grind cobble floor of the river but I knew there were supposed to be challenging rapids somewhere downstream. After the second turn in the river we were visually bombarded by the private Selway Lodge and an enormous bridge over the river as if to say "welcome to an American wilderness area, playground of the rich." I had to check this view somewhat as we did just arrive via an airplane and airstrip, but nevertheless it made me miss the strict definition of a wilderness area that New Zealand uses.
The next several miles the river was almost unlike anything I had every seen. The bedrock had been neatly planed off with virtually no bedload such that we coasted shallowly over crystal clear water and patterned bedrock. I could take or leave the tree-d valley walls around us but the river bottom was a wonderful work of art and left me curious what conditions contributed to what seems to be a pretty rare occurrence.
It did not take all that long for the day to heat up to a comfortable temperature and round about the same time we found an enormous rock outcrop that appeared to be made for cliff jumping. Challenge accepted nature. Though probably only about 30-35 feet high, the calm water landing and the long time since I had last jumped did give me some pause as I stared down from the top of the rock. After I jumped Dan and Jeff followed suit.
As we neared Moose Creek the skies became smoky, and we even saw an occasional smoldering log from the aftermath of the recent fire. A few downed trees obstructed the river enough that they would be annoying for a full sized raft but added slight interest for us. Just past Moose Creek the gradient steepens and a bedrock gorge with 8 III-IV rapids (and many others) continues for almost seven miles. This was the main event and though I would like to say we savored it, it all went by very fast. We scouted one or two of these rapids but read-and run everything else. Higher flow would have been interesting. At our current flow things were mildly interesting.
The most memorable part of the "Moose Juice Gorge" was Dan's flip about two-thirds of the way through. He got pinned against a rock briefly but in such a way that his paddle was wedged into a tongue of the rapid. About thirty to forty-five minutes of creative antics ensued, desperately trying to free the paddle. I grazed it several times but only succeeded in slicing my arm on it. After trying about five different approaches, Jeff had the winning approach of lunging for it while Jesse and I held him back from being dejected by the force of the water. What a relief to have the paddle back in hand and still in one piece!
After our whitewater fun we had planned to camp at Cedar Flats but found another kayak group there (the one other party we would see) and so opted to power through for another 2 miles to the next camp at Meeker Creek. As we approached the last turn in the canyon before Meeker we had quite the surprise- the smell of campfires, the sight of close smoke plumes rising up the hill in front of us, and as we got closer, raging flames. Others may have panicked about campsite options as we approached the fire but we were mesmerized by the flames. Trees bursting into flames, rocks crashing down the steep hillsides, riverside vegetation roaring with intense heat. As we drifted past and evaluated the situation we all decided that the fire was on the opposite of the river as our planned camp and thus would probably be safe. Plus we'd have one heck of a show this evening. So we found Meeker Camp (small but suitable) and set up camp.
Meeker Creek Camp
Once out of our wetsuits and into dry clothes we gathered our dinner supplies and walked about a 100m along the shore to a rocky promontory with a spectacular view of the fire. We ate dinner slowly, marveling at the ever-changing action on the other side. We watched for hours. I felt like I gained a new appreciation for forest fires and the geomorphic changes they drive. I was truly impressed at the size and volume of boulders crashing down the hillside to form mega-dry ravel deposits. Every once in a while a tree would abruptly burst into flames or collapse to the ground, kicking up aggressive flames. I set up my hammock for extra enjoyment.
In the morning we awoke to ash covering our gear, smoke in the air, and an atmospheric sky. While packing up at camp I could not resist the temptation to answer a burning question Jeff and I had about the Gnarwhal...yes it turns out I can fit inside the 12" Gnarwhal tubes, good to know.
Gnarwhal antics
"Wilderness"
The stretch of water we encountered in the morning was mostly flat but gradually picked up steam. We started to see more beaches. It was also clear that this stretch of the river has almost completely burned at various times in the last many years. Although we appreciated the atmospheric skies, I also appreciated that the further downstream we went the less smoky it got.
Wolf Creek Rapid turned out to be one of the more exciting rapids on the entire run. This is the only rapid we ended up scouting from a trail high above the rapid, which gave a nice change of vantage. Jeff and I staged ourselves partway through the rapid to be ready to protect the large retentive hole. Jesse and Dan both made it past so Jeff and I each had our turn boofing the hole. I had expected and hoped there would be more longer, more challenging rapids like this on the run.
A few more rapids followed but we had increasingly long flatwater stretches to paddle through. We stopped for a good forty-five minutes at Jim's Creek Falls Rapid which had several interesting ways it could be run and was particularly easy to hike the boat back up to run laps. I ran this rapid at least a half dozen different times. The most entertaining line was boofing off a ski jump-like boulder into the main convergence of the rapid. We all had fun.
Interestingly over the last thirty miles the river from bedrock to boulder banks to cobble banks to sand banks. The first sign that we were close to the end was the quality of the trail on the side of the river seeming to greatly improve, then we saw people at the campground, then happily our car at Race Creek. The trip was nice enough but the wildfire campground was probably the most memorable part of the trip. Although the river would be a different beast at high flow, I still had expected the rapids to be more challenging, the scenery more scenic, and the wilderness well actually to be wilderness. Unlike some other rivers the Selway is nothing I feel like I have to go back to run at a higher flow. It was good enough.
