It was not as intense or technical from what I remember of the Middle Fork, but the wave train rapids and camps were so great. Sandy beaches to play horseshoes, boccie, and one great evening of volleyball at Mackay Bar where we got to camp and Big Al treated us to a great dinner and breakfast. Tyler and I took the horseshoe champion title against Cody and Scottie, a friend of Cody's.
We had 5 rafts including a catamaran, 1 dory, and 4 kayakers. I was fortunate to get to behind one of the green rafts, and cat occasionally. I switched Shane for a day and rowed one of the green rafts while he was my passenger. He was great to have as my rider, because he was so confident in me. I have ored before, but only Tyler's dory on the Green River, so this was very different. The one named rapid that I remember the name of and ran was Devil's Tooth. It is pretty obvious why I remembered this one! As I was approaching the rapid I was very nervous, but Shane just kept telling me that I was doing great and had it. We hit it right on and it was so fun! Tyler was in the boat ahead of us, and I guess was not as confident in me as Shane. He kept saying things like "Ok, she is still on the ore's, I guess Shane is going to let her run this one." But he was glad I did it too. I ran a few others on other days, but this one was my favorite.
Tyler really liked to ore the catamaran. Usually Al and Diane were on that boat, but Ty jumped at any opportunity to man the cat. One day we switched and we were coming up on a few rapids, first one being Bailey's Rapid. I wish we had a video or at least a photo, but no one was really close enough or prepared to take one. Ty always goes for the biggest hole, or line no one else is taking. He is definetly a leader moreso than a follower. We hit Bailey's right on and the hole just swallowed us and spit us out, it was such a blast.
Fortunately we had great weather, aside from one day of wind and rain. The wind was going against us and blowing the rain sideways straight at our faces. It was a hard day for everyone, but especially the oresman, because they still had to watch the river, while the rest of us could protect their faces. Luckily the rain didn't last all day, and there was great rapids.
Seven days on the river went by so much faster than I had imagined. The day we finally were getting back into civilization, and seeing cars on the road from the river was kind of a sad day. I loved being on the river with some of the most important people in my life. We missed Emily and her quick wit, as well as the little Milo monster. I am looking forward to running more rivers with them in the future!
We got to the take out Friday morning in Riggins, ID and broke up the drive home by spending a night in McCall, ID. It was fun to go swim in the Payette lake, enjoy the beauty around us there, and shower! Saturday we ate at the Pankake House in McCall which is always a treat. Huckleberries are not really found in Utah, but are great in Idaho. I had huckleberry crepes that were so yummy! A great end to an unforgettable adventure.
-Tyler scouting a rapid
-Big Al and Diane on the Cat.
-Joe (Shannon's boy)and Barry, his dad, on the Dory
-The whole river crew (top to bottom, left to right): Big Al, Mike (Kayaker), Glen (Kayaker), Steve, Diane, Tyler, Shane, Beau, Russ, Barry, Scottie, Cody, Rachael, Joe, Shannon, Marci. (Arian is taking the pic)
-Bridge Jump: Arian, Cody, Shane, Tyler, Rachael, Marci (in the water), Beau, Russ (doing the back flip).
-Feeding an apple to the potbelly piggy at one of the historic stops along the way.
-Me jumping of a rock, wahoo!
-Tyler, Me, and Arian at the take out.
