By November 2010, I was already anxious for my 2011 rafting season to get started. I hadn’t been on a river since October and I was missing it badly. Typically, I don’t get on the river until March, and I’m not rafting regularly until May. I knew I couldn’t wait. Plus, my fancy new Kokatat GMER dry suit was just the piece of gear I needed to extend my season. So, I thought “Why not go in January, why not try to go every month?”

January
Living in Boise, my original plan was to travel to Washington or Oregon in search of new runs, taking advantage of some winter rains that surge the rivers over there pretty regularly, but my plan didn’t gain much traction and it was looking like a lost cause. Then, on a sunny, dry day when the skiing was marginal, football was over, and there was nothing better to do, a couple buddies and I decided to hit the river and enjoy some sun. That was January 30, 2011.

We ran the Main Payette and had a great day. I discussed my lofty goal with the crew and a few of them decided to join me in my quest to run a river every month in 2011. We even decided we’d try to run a river in IDAHO every month—a bigger challenge than expanding our territory to the entire PNW since many of our rivers in Idaho freeze during the winter.

February
February was a similar situation as January: sunny day, no fresh powder, no football on TV. We ran the Main Payette again on the 13th. Cabin fever was running rampant among our boater friends and we picked up a few more participants.

March
My first run in March was in Washington on the 12th. The Wind river dumps into the Columbia just below Hood River, OR. It was a long drive, but the chance to run some challenging water on a new-to-me river was too tempting to pass up. I was excited at the opportunity to log a Personal First Decent (PFD). I ran the 6-mile run on the Wind twice that day, then drove back to Boise that evening.

The next day, I ran the Staircase section on the South Fork of the Payette. That was an exhausting weekend. I followed it up the next weekend with another Staircase run, this time on a prototype paddle cat that my friend Ted had been working on. After that, I again headed west with my dad to meet some friends in Grants Pass for a multi-day trip on the Illinois River. Unfortunately, the rains were relentless and the river was too high for us to run. Instead, we spent three days running a swollen Rogue River. Another PFD, another great trip. The rain rarely let up for us, but the waterfalls were amazing and the scenery and solitude were exceptional.

April

You’ll see a recurring theme in my river log. I run the Main Payette and Staircase sections a lot. They are so close and convenient (to Boise). I can run up after work or go on the weekend and still be back in town to spend time with the family. On two different weekends in April, I was able to ski one day and raft the next. Outdoor nirvana.

May
The highlight of my May rafting was running Marsh Creek, the Middle Fork of the Salmon and the Main Salmon on the 21st. It was about 200 miles in seven days. At the takeout, we were picked up by our wives and went straight to the Lochsa for Memorial Day weekend, and annual tradition.

June
There was a decent high water peak in May, but most of the high water fun came in June. The Murtaugh at 20,000 is huge water. I took every chance I had to run Staircase at peak flows this year. I went up on Wednesday the 22nd to catch it at 8,000cfs. By Friday, the flow was was 9,500cfs and I got in another run. It was so much fun that I went up on Saturday for two more runs, then I headed to the North Fork of the Boise on Sunday the 26th and ran it at 5,100cfs.

July

High water excitement continued into July. A group of us converged in Yellowpine, as we do every 4th of July weekend, and ran the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon at 1,600cfs at the Johnson Creek gauge. It was HUGE. The highest I have run it previously was 650cfs. There were several beat downs, frame grabs, high-sides, and a couple of flips. After that weekend, I spent much of July running with family. I also got an invite on a Selway trip on the 17th. We had 3.3′ on the Paradise gauge, unheard of flows for mid-July. We had 80-90 degree sunny weather with a really fun, splashy flow.

August
August started off with more tame family runs. On the 18th, the North Fork Payette had finally receded to an approachable flow. At 2100cfs, it was still higher than I’d run before. I stuck to the lower 5 miles, the easiest section of class V on the NF Payette. It was big and plenty challenging. It was also really fun. So much fun, that I was up there as often as I could be, logging four runs in 10 days between the 18th and the 28th. YouTube

September
Labor Day weekend is the Payette River Rendezvous. A large group of catarafters gather for some rowdy river time on the North Fork of the Payette. We often have a dozen or more catarafts running together down the world-class steep class V rapids. After that, I enjoyed a 7-day rafting and fishing trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon. These September Middle Fork trips are an almost annual event with a great group of friends, my wife and my Dad. YouTube

October
The Murtaugh was still running at 6,000cfs in October. Usually it is down to a trickle by mid-summer. So, we had to capitalize on the opportunity to run it in the fall on the 8th.

November
November’s run on the 5th was with a group that does an annual November run on the Main Payette. I think we had about 15 people on the river. This may have been the coldest run of the year.

December

I was dreading December’s run. I knew it was going to be really cold. I was worried the Main Payette would be frozen and we’d have to travel farther to find running water with no ice bridges. Well, on December 10th, my buddy Ted and I took a raft up to the Main Payette to see if there was an open channel. We saw an impassible ice bridge just above Horseshoe Bend and we were pretty sure we wouldn’t be able to run. But, after driving a bit farther to Beehive Bend, then turning around and driving back down the river, we were able to road-scout and confirm that there we no bridges from Beehive to Parnell Beach.

We launched and floated for a couple hours down the icy river with sunshine in our faces. There was ice all along the banks and ice forming and floating down the river. One section was only about 20 feet wide and was starting to get choked up with ice. It looked like it would be completely closed within hours. We got lucky and were able to complete our goal at the very last opportunity. Twelve months of rafting in Idaho. My bucket list just got a little shorter.

I finished the year breaking all my previous records for number of river days, vertical feet and miles. I spent 74 days rafting. I ran 891.5 miles of river. And I descended 26,578 feet (or 5 miles, 178 feet). I also ran 4 new rivers and ran several other rivers at higher flows than I’d run them before. I never flipped or swam. Well, except when I fell out of the raft taking a leak. Now, it’s time to look forward to 2012. Come on SNOW!

Written by guest blogger Josh McDannel. To see a full list of the rivers he ran in 2011, click here.

Written by guest blogger Josh Mcdannel.

On May 21st, I set off for my big river trip of 2011. The agenda: 9 days of early season boating on some of Idaho’s best whitewater. I ran Marsh Creek, the Middle Fork of the Salmon, and the Main Salmon. That’s about 220 miles in 7 days. Mileage per day ranged form 13 to 47 miles. We technically launched on Cape Horn creek, where it goes under highway 21. It was about 8 inches deep, 20 feet wide, and 150 yards from the highway across a 12″ deep snow field. We had to push our loaded rafts across the snow, post-holing into the frigid water beneath the snow. That was exhausting. Then we had to portage our boats around dagger falls due to logs in the run-out of the main drop. There were logs blocking passage in the run-out of the rapid. You could make the main drop, but one missed stroke and your trapped under a log. No good. We made it 18 miles down marsh creek and 14 miles down the middle fork that day and stayed at sheepeater hot springs. THAT was a long day. The portage was 1/4 mile.

The next day, I got to practice my muay thai and ju jitsu skills in pistol creek rapid as my oars were ripped from my hands in a raging toilet bowl slamming into a cliff. My oars whipped around like ninja’s with 9 foot long arms and I had to bust out the 5 D’s of eddy-line rafting - dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge. I got in a couple jab/cross combos too. But, it was all good fun.

The next morning, I awoke to a river that had risen several inches and crept about 6 feet up the shore. Unfortunately, I had set my life jacket about 4 feet from shore and it was long gone by morning. I was devastated. I was 40 miles into the trip and without a PFD. I sat around and worried in the hot springs for a bit and came up with a brilliant plan. I strapped a small drybag full of air to my chest and zipped it up under my dry suit. We launched onto the river and scanned the shores for my PFD. We had no major rapids to run that day, so I wasn’t too worried. I WAS worried about the days to come when the river would get thrashy and violent. Luckily, about 2.5 miles from camp, one of our trip members found it hung up on some willows sticking up in the middle of the swollen river. It was black-side up and 3″ under water. It could have easily been missed. Whew. Always, always, always secure your gear, especially your PFD. Once my flotation was strapped on and the ridiculous dry-bag float was unstrapped from my chest, I rejoiced.

After that, the trip was pretty mellow. Just a few huge crashing 15′ waves in a steep narrow canyon with no way in or out except through the white froth below each horizon line. The Main Salmon was swift with a fast current, swirling eddies and huge rolling waves every few miles. The highlight was running the center line at Elkhorn. At most “high” flows, this would be a BAD idea. But we had just under 60kcfs at Whitebird and at that flow, the center holes opens up into a green wave – sometimes. It crashes every few seconds and closes off. If that happens when you’re on it, you’re going to flip. We had a some close calls, but it turned out to be a huge, fun ride. Those were the biggest waves I’ve run in over 20 years of rafting. Chittam was big, but manageable. We only spent two nights on the Main Salmon and it went by in a blur. We started on a creek in the snow with about 60cfs and we ended up in a river running 60,000cfs (ok technically, that gauge is several miles downstream from our take-out). It was amazing to see the river swell, creek by creek, that much during the week we were on it.

When we reached Spring Bar, our chosen take-out, wives picked us up and we drove straight to the lochsa for some memorial day madness. I decided to attempt a dry year and stay in boat and out of the highlight reel. Success. I’ve made the reel for the last three years. But it was fun watching my friends get wet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjtZTT7IGYk.

I <3 ID.
–Josh

Written by Danielle Gruden.

There I was, stepping on to an experience that promised to be amazing. I had anticipated something similar to that of the combination of a roller-coaster ride and a water slide; thrilling and intoxicating. Although both may have been a bit dramatic in ways to expect the adventure, it was definitely something memorable.

We started out on a sun kissed afternoon in May. Everything was in lush perspectives, due to the constant showers of spring. Blankets of green covered the ground and the river swelled. It was a perfect day for jet boating.

Besides the immaculate view, our guides Butch and Gary made the trip – their personalities winning the hearts of the crowds. During our 100 mile tour, Butch stopped at every major point of interest, explaining the river’s old mailing system, the petroglyphs painted on rocks, and the ash that covered the area thousands of years ago.

Written by guest blogger Jamie Cooper.

In these economic times, family adventure vacationers may ask, “How can I get more for my money?” But for some of us – maybe a better question is “How can I get less!” Certainly less cost is one parameter, but what about less of the stuff we have to deal with every day? Less traffic. Less people. Less headaches. Less stress. Less hassles. And less is more. More time with your family. More time to think, slow down and just breathe in what we have more of. More mountain air. More natural beauty. More time to soak up what vacations are all about, relaxing.

Five families, a giant pile of kids and a pack of dogs and we set out to explore, via rafts, the lower Salmon River. We ran a self guided trip but there are several great outfitters that can take your family down this river. I have spoken to or know several of them and there isn’t a bad choice in the bunch.

The lower Salmon is a slice of heaven. The water is a bit warmer than the average Idaho River, which makes jumping in and cooling off fun for the kids. For the most part the water is easy to manage, which makes this a great trip for the family. The outfitters mentioned in this blog can advise you on age ranges and other details regarding children on this stretch of river. Our youngest, age 4 at the time, walked around China, one of the bigger rapids, which is always an option. The kids couldn’t wait for Snow Hole, which became something of a legend along the way. The beaches are beautiful white sand, the fish bit and the food and company were legendary. Each night we had a different game for the kids to play and then we all passed out for an evening under the stars. As a bonus, we happened to make our trip down the river during an amazing meteor shower.

On our trip we were also able to tie in a jet boat finish, up the Snake River to Pittsburg landing, which was a huge hit with all the kids. Overall, this trip was a fantastic get away on the river with some fun time before and after in Riggins and McCall too.

For my money, getting away from it all for a few days without my cell phone, a TV, a computer or even an old fashioned paper newspaper is the most relaxing thing I can do. And when I am relaxed, I bet I am probably a better Dad and husband. Less means no distractions as you navigate the natural beauty of a river that carves its way through ancient canyons. Nothing to get in the way of catching a few fish or spotting a mountain goat scurrying along a cliff. Nothing on your calendar to keep you from enjoying great friends and a few good laughs around the campfire. And an open ticket to approachable family adventure that all ages can enjoy. The only “screen” you will see will be the one where the stars light up the night sky.

Idaho is all that and less. It is not more. It is less. And in this busy, busy world, less may be what it takes to build those memories that will last a life time.

For more information on the Salmon and Lower Gorge, check it out here.