Dispatch #13

Hamiltons Cross-Country Adventure 2010

Dispatches

lug 06

Published at 23:19

We began our 6 day rafting adventure, down the Middle Fork of the
Salmon River, in Stanley, ID. This picturesque mountain town was the
perfect spot to rendezvous with the Middle Fork Rapid Transit group
and meet the rest of our team. We boarded an old school bus and began
the journey over bumpy, unpaved roads to our put in spot.

The air was crisp and a splash of the icy water immediately caught our
attention. There were three different types of rafts to choose from
depending on your paddling expertise and willingness to risk a dip in
the river! The large oar boats were manned by our expert guides- the
main goal here being to hold on! The paddle boat was steered by a
guide and paddled by 4-6 of us! This was an exciting way to
experience the river and bond with our fellow rafters. The ducky, or
inflatable kayak, was coined the ”divorce boat” by the guides
because of how easy it is to disagree with your partner when taking on
a class 4 rapid in this tiny boat!

Chris, Caroline and Henry adventurously tried all three boats and we
had a chance to swim through a rapid after getting tossed out of the
ducky! Luckily, there were several natural hot springs along the
river where we enjoyed a soak after some hard paddling. We enjoyed
great excursions from the river to see Native American petroglyphs, a
day hike along the ridgeline, and excellent cliff jumping
opportunities!

Henry kept the entire group in stitches with many entertaining stories
and antics (and booze)! The 100 miles that we covered on the river
went by way too fast! We were lucky to have such a great group of
people with whom to share this experience!

+443189-1151767+2000:DayOne,MiddleForkSalmonRiver

Name: Day 1, Middle Fork of Salmon River
Elevation: 2000 m
Latitude: 44° 32’ 29” North
Longitude: 115° 18’ 7” West