In July 2011, we sent 15-year-old Sarah Faller down the Snake River through Hells Canyon with a challenge to describe, in her own words, an O.A.R.S. rafting trip. (Sarah is no stranger to the river life—or to O.A.R.S. —having rafted the Main Salmon River with us in 2010.)
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I started rafting the Main Salmon River in 1992 – it was my first multi-day wilderness trip and I was very excited and a little intimidated! The put-in point is a long drive from the town of Salmon, driving alongside the river the entire way. The North Fork joins the Main just outside town and many miles downriver, the Middle Fork enters and about doubles the size of the river.
This is Lewis & Clark country as this river canyon turned them away from attempting to canoe down the canyon and they turned and went into Montana. There are many historic sites commemorating this event on the drive to the edge of the wilderness. This is the Frank Church – River of No Return – Wilderness which is adjacent to the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana. Together they form the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states. Outfitters put into the river at Corn Creek which is where the road ends and you enter the magnificent river canyon.
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Adventure Media is the brainchild of founder Nancy Harrison. Nancy only started adventuring at the age of 40 when she learned to ski, whitewater raft and horseback ride while living in Winter Park, Colorado. Moving to Wyoming gave her the opportunity to enjoy fly fishing, hiking and camping, sea kayaking, and many other nature-based activities. Nancy has two grown children and four grandsons, all of whom enjoy the outdoors - fishing, hiking, camping, water sports and snow sports. Nancy is a true Citizen of the West who has lived her entire life in the Rocky Mountain States. She has become an expert in her field of media relations and spends a good deal of her time each year teaching and lecturing on PR to groups such as The International Ecotourism Society, America Outdoors, the Adventure Travel World Summit and many state and regional conferences and international gatherings.
“The boat slid down the Boundary Creek ramp…” – or some variation can begin the tale.
Each river has a point of reference, which triggers memories grown dim with the distractions of daily living. Around the Grand Canyon, a mention of Lee’s Ferry can make a normally reserved acquaintance into a raconteur. In the Salmon River country, referring to the Boundary Creek put-in ramp could lead to such an earful of adventures from a Middle Fork veteran that you may decide to disappear from ‘civilization’ long enough to gather a few stories of your own.
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Author of Livin' the Dream: Testing the Ragged Edge of Machismo (Raven's Eye Press, 2010), Brad Frank has done time as a: Colorado native, sawmill savage, fruit picker, artist, wanderer, poet, seasonal worker, commercial driver, photographer, traveling coffeehouse proprietor, outdoor guide, river rat and writer. Since 2005 he has been listed as a contributing editor and senior correspondent for Mountain Gazette, a magazine that sagely advises, "When in doubt, go higher." More stories from B. can be found at bfrankbroadsides.com.
A Salmon River run offers something for the whole family – berry picking, campfire singing, cave exploring…even pedicures.When the cool, deep shaft of the abandoned copper mine ended in a wall of rock, guide Mike Thurber turned to the group and said, “Turn off your flashlights.”
We were about 100 yards into an Idaho hillside. The lights went off as instructed, and in a moment of solemnity, 19-year-old Thurber quietly asked us to contemplate the phenomenon of utter darkness. For that instant, each of us was an island, alone in the black tunnel.
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Stephen Kenney is one of our top river guides on the forks of the Salmon River, the Snake River through Hells Canyon and on the Colorado River (both in Cataract Canyon & the Grand Canyon). Considering his diverse boating capabilities, Kenney gets to enjoy a multitude of watersheds – the best the West has to offer in terms of alpine scenery and wild landscapes! He also has a big sense of humor, wide range of educational experience, and can occasionally be found dressed in women's apparel while cooking on the river. Get to know this well-educated, Kentucky native in our ninth episode of guide interviews!
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What a way to end a trip!!!
A perfect morning in camp starting with yoga and coffee, a good breakfast and back on the river. Perhaps a little hungover for some of us. That had been one amazing party.
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This morning was awesome. From the minute of our departure from camp, to our lunch stop several hours later, we had continuous whitewater. Again, all four of the ducky’s capsized at least once. We were all getting use to this daily dose of ice cold water. One duckier (I won’t mention her name) aimed directly toward a boulder in the center of the rapid. Caught in the current and unable to veer away, hit the boulder and wedged itself there. Climbing out of the boat and standing on the rock, not knowing what to do next, CQ instructed her to stay put. Luckily, our raft was near enough to turn, paddle furiously up stream and get her off of the rock.
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Robbins is a Philadelphia native who grew up loving culture and the excitement of city life. She attended undergraduate school at the University of the Arts and received a master’s in Fine Arts at Temple University and The Tyler School of Art. Robbins taught art history for 16 years and sponsored off-campus trips for high school and college students. Her interest in travel sparked when she backpack and trekked on her own throughout England, France, Spain and the Mediterranean for five months. She later started an interior design business and art consultation company. She has two children and currently lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado within the Rocky Mountain high country.
There was something bitter sweet about returning to camp on the final evening. We knew this was the last campsite we would all be sharing. Upon arriving back after our hike, we were greeted warmly by our guides. It was as if they felt the loss, too. They encouraged us to get cleaned up and get ready for dinner.
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Freshened up and ready to eat, we meandered back to the beach for drinks. Ooops, who are these guides? They had been stolen and replaced by some strange spiritual force. It might have been the cliff painting Indians, or maybe it was Satchquatch! But where several good looking, nature loving boys once tended our camp, we now had slutty, floozies in bizarre dress……. not a fashion icon among them!
Now, of course, we couldn’t let them have all the fun by themselves- so after a few drinks everyone joined in and the party began……….. .jpg)
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Robbins is a Philadelphia native who grew up loving culture and the excitement of city life. She attended undergraduate school at the University of the Arts and received a master’s in Fine Arts at Temple University and The Tyler School of Art. Robbins taught art history for 16 years and sponsored off-campus trips for high school and college students. Her interest in travel sparked when she backpack and trekked on her own throughout England, France, Spain and the Mediterranean for five months. She later started an interior design business and art consultation company. She has two children and currently lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado within the Rocky Mountain high country.
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It is quite enjoyable starting the day at 6:00 AM with Yoga. I have never tried it before but this was a trip of firsts, so I was game. I did find it to be helpful to relax my sore and stiff body. As the sun was rising in the sky, there I was trying to balance on my mat. Okay, so it wasn't picture perfect, but check off another first for me.
This morning was the first time we have seen threatening rain clouds. So far the weather has been stunningly perfect. Figuring it doesn't matter anyway if it rains, because we will already be wet from the blasting through the rapids.
Robbins is a Philadelphia native who grew up loving culture and the excitement of city life. She attended undergraduate school at the University of the Arts and received a master’s in Fine Arts at Temple University and The Tyler School of Art. Robbins taught art history for 16 years and sponsored off-campus trips for high school and college students. Her interest in travel sparked when she backpack and trekked on her own throughout England, France, Spain and the Mediterranean for five months. She later started an interior design business and art consultation company. She has two children and currently lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado within the Rocky Mountain high country.
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Another beautiful morning on the Middle Fork. This morning several of us started our day by doing yoga with one of our guides, Bronco who was leading us in the exercises. Stiff from the previous days of rowing we needed to stretch out and relax. Especially because what we had in store for us later today was amazing.
Mid afternoon we stopped for our daily picnic lunch on a beautiful sandy beach surrounded by cliff walls and forests of every shade of green. It was great just sitting on our butts, relaxing, while our guides prepared lunch.
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Robbins is a Philadelphia native who grew up loving culture and the excitement of city life. She attended undergraduate school at the University of the Arts and received a master’s in Fine Arts at Temple University and The Tyler School of Art. Robbins taught art history for 16 years and sponsored off-campus trips for high school and college students. Her interest in travel sparked when she backpack and trekked on her own throughout England, France, Spain and the Mediterranean for five months. She later started an interior design business and art consultation company. She has two children and currently lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado within the Rocky Mountain high country.
Today started out great. We woke up to a warm magnificent morning, had a lovely camp breakfast and headed for our boats. By now I was getting more daring. I like adventure and itʼs so much more fun to do things the hard way. So today I chose to go in a ducky (a one person inflatable kayak) and I started downstream. My confidence was high, but little did I know it would be mostly white water until our stop for lunch, 3 hours later. (I said I was adventurous, I didn't say I was always smart).
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As soon as we got to a relatively calm area I was told to flip my ducky and get into the cold water. This was a test to make sure I could get back into the kayak in case I flipped in the rapids. After struggling for several minutes, with my life preserver around my face and kicking furiously, I entered my ducky ready for whatever the river had in store for me. I was ready……. At least I thought so. Again we were in the rapids. A rock, a bump, a wave and more white water. I paddled furiously through the rapids. Luckily for me, my daughter Jenn, who is an experienced kayaker, shouted out instructions to keep me upright. “Go right, mom! Do you see that rock? Now left!" At least for the time being the correct side of the kayak was in the water. .jpg)
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Robbins is a Philadelphia native who grew up loving culture and the excitement of city life. She attended undergraduate school at the University of the Arts and received a master’s in Fine Arts at Temple University and The Tyler School of Art. Robbins taught art history for 16 years and sponsored off-campus trips for high school and college students. Her interest in travel sparked when she backpack and trekked on her own throughout England, France, Spain and the Mediterranean for five months. She later started an interior design business and art consultation company. She has two children and currently lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado within the Rocky Mountain high country.
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