In the heart of Central Idaho, situated on Lake Payette, you’ll find the small, picturesque town of McCall. This charming resort town is the meeting place for O.A.R.S.’ Main Salmon River trips and worth spending an extra day or two if you’ve got it.

Finally, vacation begins: From Boise, rent a car and drive two hours to McCall, ID. Settle into lakeside accommodations at The Shore Lodge on Lake Payette. As you enjoy your first evening of vacation, treat yourself to a spa session in The Cove, grab a table at The Narrows for some local cuisine, or rent a kayak for a serene evening paddle—all without leaving the lodge.

McCall exploring: Start the next morning off with a hike in Ponderosa State Park, just outside of town. After working up an appetite, get your caffeine fix and satisfy your belly at Foglifter Café. Afterward, cross the street for a visit to Home Town Sports. Rent a Paddleboard for some afternoon water fun (you can practically see the beach from their shop). For dinner, make a burger and shake stop at My Father’s Place, a locals’ favorite. And since no trip to Idaho is complete without a dip in a hot spring, spend your evening unwinding at Burgdorf Hot Springs and ghost town, a short drive from McCall. By the end of the day, you’ll be in full vacation mode and ready to hit the river.

Whitewater action: The following day, take a scenic flight to Salmon, ID where your Main Salmon River rafting trip begins.  Don’t worry if you didn’t get your fill of McCall as you’ll return there after your 6 day river trip for as much fun and exploring as you have time for.

Want more information?  Visit the Discover McCall Website:  http://www.discovermccall.com/

Related Articles:

The Most Underrated State for Adventure Travel

Three Generations on the Middle Fork

Kid-friendly Idaho: 8 Ideas for the Adventurous Family

The post 36 Hours in Scenic McCall, Idaho appeared first on River Currents.

The nine scattered cabins that make up Jim Moore’s Camp among knee high grasses were all hand-hewn. I see the ax marks and wonder at Moore taking 15 years to make all the massive beams by hand. Most of the cabins still stand, with a little help from volunteers from the United States Forest Service and a designation in the National Register of Historic Places (#78001063, respectfully).

Flocks of people came through making the property’s extensive development worth the effort. Jim Moore said himself that between the years 1900 and 1902, 1,800 men came through his property as they headed upstream to Campbell’s Ferry, crossing the Salmon, and heading for the purported gold on Thunder Mountain. He said they came year-round, with backpacks and mules in the summer and snowshoes and skis in the winter.

Whether stopping for lunch or camp along the Main Salmon River, we guides oftentimes make the couple hundred-or-so-yard walk up to the terrace and take a look around Jim Moore’s Place. We tell the guests a short history of Jim and his homestead. He was born in Kentucky around 1868 and died April 25th, 1942.

As the guests are milling about and looking in cabin windows at old shoes and rusted pots, I walk towards the scree slope. I give Jim’s grave a little nod as I walk by it, acknowledging him and his long-gone, historic and generous homestead on the Salmon’s shore. As I get near the hill’s base, I take a look around, trying to remember where I left off last time. I start lifting up rocks, hoping that maybe I’ll pick the right one and find a mason jar filled with gold nuggets.

Jim started placer mining in the late 1890’s and didn’t find much. As word spread that gold was found on Thunder Mountain, Jim recognized opportunity. He raised chickens and sold eggs. He was known to make good money selling his homemade moonshine, whiskey, and peach brandy. He grew veggies and planted an orchard that still produces deliciously crisp and sweet apples for rafters and bears passing by in mid-to late summer.

I search a few more minutes. Sometimes a guest will saunter up and ask what I’m doing. I always tell them I’m hunting for Jim Moore’s lost treasure. Sometimes they help. They always laugh. I haven’t found it yet.

I allow the tiny irrational part of me to think this day might be the time I strike gold. The appeal? Fame and fortune? More, I imagine it would be remarkable handling a dusty treasure not seen since Jim’s death in 1942. Oh, and it’s full of gold, and I need a new truck.

I’d love to find the hidden treasure someday, even if that means facing Jim Moore’s ghost.

Much of Moore’s history was gleaned from Carrey and Conley’s River of No Return.

Related Articles:

The Most Underrated State for Adventure Travel

The Best Family Vacation Spots Nobody Knows About

Family Rafting on the Salmon River in Idaho

The post Searching for Jim Moore’s Treasure appeared first on River Currents.

1.  You can drink out of the river.

Well, at least the Chilko River section of the trip is that pure.  The Chilko water is so cold and so pure; it beats any bottled water you’ve tasted.

2.  The flight.

Flying from Vancouver to Williams Lake over Whistler and the Coast Range will make you feel very small in a huge world of conifers and endless unnamed mountains. Welcome to the wilderness. It’s nothing like the commute at home.

3.  Rapid-happy.

The Chilko-Chilcotin-Fraser trip guarantees the longest stretch of commercially navigable Class IV whitewater in North America. There’s a lot of respect for a claim like that. That’s a lot of super-fun rapids to face. There is a section of whitewater that is actually called “The White Mile.” What more could an adrenaline junkie ask?

4.   Toothpaste.

The Chilcotin River section is the color of toothpaste, not unlike Grand Canyon’s Havasu water.  While Havasu’s creek color is the result of play between the Magnesium and calcium carbonate content, the Chilcotin’s blue-green has more to do with “rock flour.”  This “flour” is actually ground up rocks from beneath the river’s originating glacier. It is fine sediment flowing in the river that doesn’t easily settle and refracts light to make the milky blue. It’s an unreal color. Don’t be surprised if the color makes you want to brush your teeth. (It does me, anyway.)

5.  No smog or city lights.

Sometimes we forget what the night sky can look like. City lights and smog dim the constellations; big buildings limit what we can see. Multi-day Canadian rafting affords views of an unfettered night sky. When the smog and city lights are gone, the stars come out, and you won’t believe how many there are.

6.  Covering some ground.

The Chilko-Chilcotin-Fraser river trip drops 3,000 feet in 130 miles. At 23 feet per mile, this Canadian gem finds comparable company with the Middle Fork Salmon’s average 30 feet per mile drop. Both rivers start as barely more than floatable streams and gather side creeks as they go from sub-alpine to high desert over the course of a week’s travel, ending in formidable rivers

7.  Wildlands music

If you are lucky enough to have Niels Jewitt as one of your Canadian river guides, be prepared for some phenomenal campfire-side 9 ½ fingered harmonica music. He’s good, very good.

As a final note, be prepared to use the ubiquitous Canadian “eh” in the two weeks following your trip. Yes, your neighbors and coworkers will look at you strangely.  It just happens. A lingering regional vocab word is worth the trip.

Related Articles:

7 of the Best Whitewater Rafting Trips in the World

How Do You See the Northern Lights?

Bucket List Ideas for a Fulfilled Life

The post British Columbia Rafting: 7 Reasons to Go Now appeared first on River Currents.

It was our third week straight of forest fires. The Church (Frank Church Wilderness Area) was on fire. There were rumblings and whisperings about more road closures that could delay our getting to the river or even flat out prevent us from going. The air was thick with smoke. My throat and eyes hurt, I took to carrying a handkerchief with me in case the smoke particulates got REALLY bad. There was no turning back, though, if I could help it. The guests were on their way from all corners of the country and there was wilderness boating to be done.

Driving through and past Stanley, Idaho, I was grateful we had gotten this far, especially amid reports that part of Stanley was being evacuated that day. We drove along Highway 21 out of town and gazed out of the right side of the cramped truck’s cab. The wilderness was burning a few miles from the road.

A few days later, as we set up the kitchen tables at Shelf Camp on the Middle Fork Salmon, I contemplated the impressively mature and enormous spires of Yellow Pine scattered through camp. It was hard to imagine all of these incredible trees almost went up in flames like match heads. That fire was only a few years ago, in 2007, and it came within yards of one of the most incredible camps on this river.

Now I’ve heard the “Middle Fork big fire” story a few times, and I wouldn’t do justice to telling it, but let it be said that an O.A.R.S. river trip was chased from this camp. If you want the full (and excitable) story, guide Nick Grimes gives a compelling recounting/reenactment. Let’s just say Mr. Nick is NOT a runner. And he was sprinting.

On a different trip earlier in the 2012 summer we stopped for lunch at Lower Yellow Pine on the Main Salmon River, just upstream of Big Mallard Rapid. As we were eating we could see fire-lit trees less than a mile downstream, moving our way. We didn’t feel in danger, but there was reverence as we watched the thickening smoke and flames while we ran the next rapid. Around the corner I saw what I’ve never seen. The forest fire here was ON the shore. There it was. Downed trees touching the water’s edge were crackling and smoking. Boat after boat passed the burning land, mouths agape as we watched Nature do her mighty thing. The only noises were the dip of oars in water, clicks of cameras, and the crackle and pop of dried foliage taking the heat. It was an astounding sight.

At camp later, after checking in with the boss via satellite phone and assuring our safety, guides and guests talked about what we had seen. Some people thought it tragic, the scorched earth and killed trees stripping the landscape of a coniferous beauty as far as one could see. While the coal-ridden landscape was indeed more monotone than we were used to, we agreed that the beauty of The Frank Church Wilderness Area was that it was managed AS a Wilderness Area. That is to say the Forest Service’s “let it burn” policy was letting Nature be natural. And that was healthy.

The Halstead Fire at its end consumed over 180,000 acres. The wildflowers will be back next year. And I am grateful to work in a wild land that is ever-changing. I’m looking forward to the 2013’s season of renewal.

Related Articles:

7 of the Best Whitewater Rafting Trips in the World

The Most Underrated State for Adventure Travel

Guide Talk: Why Idaho Rafting is Better Than Anywhere Else

The post From the Front Lines of an Idaho Wildfire appeared first on River Currents.

A sneak peek at Kevin Fedarko’s forthcoming book, The Emerald Mile—The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History through the Heart of the Grand Canyon

All the river-running advice in the world cannot adequately prepare a person for his first encounter with truly gigantic whitewater: the ferocity of the noise and turbulence; the fugues of competing currents, all colliding together and snapping like the tail end of a whip, or diving straight to the bottom of the river where, inside the Grand Canyon, they can scour out holes that reach depths of up to seventy feet. To a casual observer, the combined picture is one of absolute insanity: a raging mess of tangled lines, studded with rocks, drenched with spray that flies in every direction.

Each rapid, however, possesses architecture of its own, and a skilled boatman is often able to scan and trace the layout as clearly as an electrician can interpret a circuit drawing. And this was the task to which Litton and his crew would have to apply themselves if they were to have any hope of learning to thread the chainlinked sequence of maelstroms at the bottom of the canyon consistently and safely, time after time.

By the 1990s, all of these monster rapids had been exhaustively surveyed, mapped, and ranked according to a rather complicated scale, unique to the Grand Canyon. In the early days, however, the maps were crude and the rankings had not yet been refined. But everybody agreed that there were roughly thirty rapids that were more than capable of smashing your boat, ending your career, or killing you.

House Rock, Unkar, and Dubendorff could all get you into serious trouble at low water. A couple of the Roaring Twenties, a series of ten back-to-back rapids between Mile 20 and Mile 29, could be especially nasty at high water (although some of them turned ugly at low water too). Grapevine, Zoroaster, and Specter were mostly benign, but each concealed one or two features—a rock, a standing wave, a reversal—that was more than capable of knocking you into next week. A bright handful, like Sockdolager and Hermit and Upset, were mostly pure fun—but they would flip you in a hot second if you failed to maintain your angle. Hance and Granite and Horn Creek were complex and mercurial and therefore always dangerous. Still others—almost always Bedrock and invariably Lava Falls—were just plain vicious.

Photo: John Blaustein

No two of these challenges were alike, and when Litton’s crew came to realize that the linchpin to good boatmanship lay in cultivating a fluency at reading water, they all became devoted scholars of current. The bulk of these studies took place when they anchored their boats at the top of a nasty stretch of river, climbed to a vantage point on the cliffs that afforded a comprehensive view, and sat on the rocks dissecting the rapid with their eyeballs. At irregular intervals, one of them would stand up, pad back to their anchorage point, gather up a handful of driftwood pieces, and start tossing them into the current. As the sticks hurtled downstream, the veil that concealed the complex matrix of whitewater was pulled back and they were able to take apart the features piece by piece, mapping them out in their minds. They would do this for hours, watching and observing as each of them pieced together a plan. Then they would select another vantage that offered a slightly different angle and go through the whole exercise all over again. When each of them was satisfied, it was time to return to the boats and give their theories a try.

And so they proceeded in this staccato fashion—stopping, scouting, and running, then pausing for another scout—day after day, week after week, until they had punched through the Grand Wash cliffs and emerged onto the slackwater of Lake Mead. Then they pulled the dories from the water, hauled them back to Hurricane for repairs, and made the long drive back to Lee’s Ferry to greet another group of clients and repeat the same journey. All through the spring, down the length of summer and deep into the fall, they completed this great mandala, pausing only for a hiatus in winter before once again rejoining the flow of the Colorado. And somewhere in the midst of this circuit, the river itself came to seem less like a linear highway and was instead transformed into something that resembled an enchanted circle—an endless loop that, not unlike the hydraulic jumps whose secrets they strove to unlock, revolved back upon itself in a continuous swirl of wonder and madness.

Want to keep reading? Pre-order The Emerald Mile from Amazon (available May 7, 2013).

Related Articles:

The Heart of the Grand Canyon

Must Read Adventure Book:  Before They’re Gone

The Best Adventure Travel Blogs, Period

The post True Tale of the Fastest Boat Ride Through the Grand Canyon (Ever) appeared first on River Currents.

From Oregon to the Grand Canyon and everything in between, here are a few outstanding river hikes worth the trip…down the river, that is.

Stone Creek/Land of the Seven Waterfalls Hike
Location: Colorado River through the Grand Canyon
Accessible from two separate superb river camps in the Grand Canyon, above and below mighty Dubendorf Rapid, this one has it all: Ancient granaries, incredible geology, numerous swimming spots, and one waterfall after another. You can make it as long or short as you want, as leisurely or as active as you want. If you go long there’s an incredible cove an hour or so up. Or, you can up the adventure level and find your way into the final Quartzite slot, over boulders and around a few exposed ledges, to the best waterfall of all (a four-hour round trip including some hang time).

Jack Creek Overlook Hike
Location:  Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho
This is a buns-of-steel hike approximately 1-mile straight up from Little Pine Camp. The pay-off after an hour’s worth of very steep and switch-backed hiking is unquestionably worth it, though, as the overlook’s summit gives an unencumbered view of the Impassable Canyon and incredible perspective on the far-reaching and wild Frank Church Wilderness. Hikers get unbeatable views of snow-capped peaks and forests for as far as the eye can see.

Loon Creek Hike
Location:  Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho
Also worth the mention on the Middle Fork Salmon is the 1 ½-mile (one-way) Loon Creek Hike to hidden hot springs. The trail to the springs is easy to moderate and offers lots of options for hikers who might want to peel off and sit by Loon Creek or even go fly-fishing. For a longer, harder hike, going past the hot springs takes you into a gorgeous granite gorge. The trail climbs from there and gives a great view of a valley before descending back to the creek and crossing a lovely small bridge.

Tate Creek Slide Hike
Location: Rogue River, Oregon
Despite being a short, ¼-mile hike, the Rogue River Trail at Tate Creek Camp offers a special surprise that will leave a lasting impression. Following a creek bed on the moderate-to-challenging trail, hikers find themselves at a lovely waterfall. But this isn’t just a waterfall to admire. Lively spirits can go hand over hand up a rope to the top of the waterfall, turning it into a wild 10-foot water slide with a 5-foot free fall into a refreshing pool below.

Wind River Hike
Location:  Main Salmon River, Idaho
Winding its way back into the Humboldt Wilderness, the Wind River Hike ranges from between 3 and 6-miles round trip. After approximately 1 ½-miles, the trail leads to a beautiful shady nook of pouring pools to cool off in. This is a good turnaround point for people looking for a shorter hike, or you can continue on from here for a longer moderate-to-difficult 6-mile round trip trek.

Doll House Hike
Location: Colorado River through Cataract Canyon
You have to wake up early to beat the heat on the 6-mile (round trip) Doll House hike into the remote Maze District of Canyonlands National Park. The trek starts out with a grueling 45-minute, 1,300-foot Stairmaster climb, but is well worth it once you arrive at the top of the canyon among playful rock formations that make up the iconic Doll House region. Here you’re also rewarded with an awe-inspiring, 360-degree panoramic view of the colorful spires of the Needles and Island in the Sky Districts of Canyonlands, and the Colorado River below you. Wander around the rim of the canyon to discover an Anasazi granary, and an area called the Refrigerator that offers a slot canyon experience with relief from the heat.

Seven Devils View Hike
Location:  Snake River, Idaho
From Salt Creek Camp on Idaho’s Snake River, deep in Hells Canyon, take on a difficult ¾-mile round trip hike for stunning mountain and river views. The steep, semi-marked trail is a steady gradient with some need for scrambling. Reach the top and see a bird’s eye view of the winding Snake River below you, or look off onto the horizon to take in the Seven Devils Mountains, which make up the Idaho/Oregon border.

Insider Tip: The Ultimate Hiking and Rafting Vacation
While we’re talking about rafting and hiking, the proximity of the Tuolumne River in California to all the great trails and iconic landscapes in Yosemite National Park has to be mentioned. In fact, hiking enthusiasts can take a wild ride down the action-packed Class IV Tuolumne River and then spend a few days exploring Yosemite’s backcountry by foot on a special Tuolumne & Yosemite Hiker trip. If you’ve got 6 days, this might be the most epic hiking and rafting vacation you can take.

Related Articles:

Falling for Utah: Hiking & Rafting Canyonlands’ Backcountry

Going Rogue: A Self-proclaimed City Girl Goes Camping

The Most Underrated State for Adventure Travel

The post 7 Incredible River Hikes appeared first on River Currents.

Related Articles:

Scenic California By Car: The Tahoe-Yosemite Loop

Tuolumne River Rafting Dreamin’

7 of the Best Whitewater Rafting Trips in the World

The post California: A State of Whitewater appeared first on River Currents.

This must-drive loop through four National Parks, in the heart of Utah’s red rock country, is big on the miles, but a definite bucket list item.  Check out the route…

Salt Lake City to Zion National Park

From Salt Lake, find your way to I-15S. As you near canyon country, veer onto UT-17S and then left on UT-9E which takes you through Utah’s first National Park, Zion. You’ll want to park your car at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center so you can hop on the shuttle and get into the heart of the park for access to areas like Weeping Rock and Temple of Sinawava (gateway to The Narrows—an entry-level canyoneering experience if you’re up for the challenge).

Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park

From Zion follow UT-9E to US-89N. After about 43 miles turn right onto UT-12E and then another right at UT-63S into Bryce Canyon. In Bryce Canyon, explore unique geology and find out what a “hoodoo” is when you stretch your legs on the 4-mile Hat Shop hike.

Bryce Canyon to Moab (via Capitol Reef National Park)

Follow UT-63N out of Bryce and make your way back onto UT-12E. Turn right onto UT-24E, which heads right through Capitol Reef National Park, one of the least visited parks in the country. Stop for a layover and have this geological wonder all to yourself.

Continue on UT-24E to I-70E. En route, check out the quaint town of Boulder, Utah. Take the exit for US-191S to Moab. Make Moab your base camp for exploring the wonderland of Arches National Park, mountain biking, or maybe even whitewater rafting before heading back to Salt Lake City.

Got another week? O.A.R.S. offers Cataract Canyon rafting trips from Moab through Canyonlands National Park (make that five national parks in one trip!).

Related Articles:

Destination: Moab, Utah

Scenic California by Car: The Tahoe-Yosemite Loop

Road Trip: Worth the Drive Wyoming

The post Hit the Road: Utah’s Red Rock Country appeared first on River Currents.

Bundled in an old black down jacket and cozy wool hat, I looked up from my mug of too-hot-to-drink lemon tea to watch the sun’s reds and oranges fade to blue. It was one of those sunsets I wished would go more slowly. I considered fetching my camera to record the sight. But I didn’t have the heart to miss the show. So I just sat and watched gratefully. Slowly curling smoke from the early evening’s small campfire mingled with the far-off mountains’ changing-to-blue tones.

The building-sized glaciers had a curious blue, opaque, unknown- depth, like fortune telling crystal balls.

The cobalt ice and snow had a pureness that was unfettered by city-common traffic smoke and street grime. There were no errant cigarette butts or soda can trash. There were bald eagles.

The sapphire river we rafted was so cold it induced ice cream headaches if stared at too long.

Bitter and sweet, bright and cool, the crispness of the air tasted like dark chocolate.

Being the Southwest desert rat that I am, rafting through Alaska’s backcountry was like walking on the moon. Pictures don’t do the moon justice.

Alaska is a place of expansive possibility and insight-spurning grandiosity. I’ve been there a few times, and it always hurts a little to leave. The colors stay with me as I plan for my next river trip in Alaska. I know it won’t be very long until I see those blues again.

I miss the Alaska Blues.

Related Articles:

A Life Worth Remembering

Top Travel Destinations of 2013

Perfect Sandy Paradises You Can Only Get to By Boat

The post Alaska Blues appeared first on River Currents.

Yes, that’s right, the Grand Canyon has some of the best sandy beaches in the world surrounded by some of the most surreal scenery you can get.  And the best part?  You can only get to them by boat.  But the Grand Canyon isn’t alone.  There are a ton of rivers that offer stunning, secluded beaches that few people get to step foot on each year.  They are little slices of paradise that you would never expect.  And we’re going to reveal them here.

We’ve talked to some of the most experienced river guides out there to find out where some of the best beaches in the U.S. hide.  Here’s what they had to say…

Billy Bar – Lower Salmon River, ID

Scenery is key at this Lower Salmon River beach spot that’s also ideal for family fun.

Here’s what the guides say:

This enormous sandy beach offers not only a wonderful view but lots of options as to how you’d like to spend your day at camp. There is lots of room for campers to spread out and “claim” their river front property. The beach also doubles as an outstanding volleyball court or bocce ball arena. And of course something must be said about the big calm eddy that invites you to try out an SUP board, start a ducky war or just go in for a cool down.

Brown Betty – Colorado River through Cataract Canyon, UT

One of the favorites on a Cataract Canyon rafting trip, boaters fight hard to make their way to Brown Betty before others claim this ideal spot.

Here’s what the guides say:

Brown Betty is a vast expanse of dunes at the bottom of the very first rapid in nearly a hundred river miles, with the soaring and portentous cliffs of mighty Cataract Canyon tilting upwards towards a searingly violet sky. You’re excited about the huge rapids to come, but want to hang a while to hike to the magical sandstone turrets of The Maze and the Doll House, which of course ups the adrenaline. This is the real deal. It’s so pristine you could go for a walk in the moonlight to the end of the earth, and never stub your toe.

Grapevine – Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, AZ

Already mentioned above, we couldn’t leave the Grand Canyon off of our list.

Here’s what the guides say:

Nothing in the world is quite like having your boat tied to a sand stake pounded to its hilt in fine-grained sand, gently rocking in the calm eddy of one of the most prized catches in the Grand Canyon: Grapevine Camp, mile 83. The roar of Grapevine rapids is just downstream, echoing off the darkening schist cliffs of the Upper Granite Gorge. Your heart is at ease, your spirit soaring with the ravens, your anticipation of more huge rapids on the morrow, and if you’re lucky your belly is full of Dutch-Oven baked brownies with crushed walnuts.

Warren Creek Camp – Main Salmon River, ID 

There are lots of pristine beaches on the Main Salmon River, but this one makes the cut for being a secluded paradise with stellar fishing.

Here’s what the guides say:

This hidden, large beach is a favorite among anglers due to its proximity to Warren Creek just upstream of camp. But if fishing is not your thing, you have plenty of other options at this secluded beach. Its space provides lots of room for finding solitude at your tent, partaking in beach games, heading out for a hike or going for a dip in the calm eddy nearby.

Confluence of the Tatshenshini and Alsek Rivers – Tatshenshini River, Alaska

With glacial blue waters and snow-capped peaks in the distance, it’s a different kind of beach experience.  But one that’s worth the trip.

Here’s what the guides say:

The views are bigger than any!

A special thanks to river guides Jeffe Aronson, Codye Reynolds, Gena Moore, and Ote Dale for contributing to this piece.

Related Articles:

5 of the Best River Campsites in the World

Galapagos Vacation: What Nobody Tells You

The Most Underrated State for Adventure Travel

The post Perfect Sandy Paradises You Can Only Get To By Boat… appeared first on River Currents.