Wilderness River Outfitters

River Side Kayak Report

Eli drops into Cramer Creek

The first kayak trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon was a huge success. Five kayakers made their way to Idaho from Tennessee for the trip, two father-son combos. Jason Darby brought his two sons, Zack and Eli, ages 15 and 11. Ken Cofer also joined us with his son Taylor, age 14. These five kayakers were perfect for the trip; they brought great enthusiasm to the trip about Idaho's awesome Whitewater and Wilderness. Zack and Taylor are both definitely go-getters, wave-wheeling and surfing any chance they get. Eli at only age 11 paddled a Jackson Sidekick and finished his run with the big waves of Cramer Creek. With Will Parham out for the season with a shoulder injury we had Tyler Maxwell filling in the guest coaching position. I also took the week off of rafting to do some kayak guiding.

Seth shows Jason and Ken the line in Rubber

Zack rippping it up at the Marble Creek Wave

With the Middle Fork running between 4.59 ft and 4.20 ft, it was a great level for kayaking. The water was low enough that not many rapids were washed out, but high enough that lots of great surf waves were scattered throughout the trip. We were able to camp at Marble Creek, with a surf wave and eddy access. These flows also made for some great rapids: Pistol Creek, Cove Creek, Webber, Rubber, and Cramer Creek all provided excitement.

Taylor and Zack

Airtime on the Middle Fork

There were many highlights along the way besides the kayaking: fishing, hiking, bocce ball, river baseball, and watching Foamy putting down some first descents. For those people that don’t know who Foamy is, he is a miniature kayaker that is made out of foam and always pushes the limits in the miniature-kayaking world. Foamy's waterfall decent of Sunflower Shower was definitely record-breaking in the world of miniature kayaking.

Sadly, Foamy would not complete his trip. At the last night's camp, Foamy was putting down some first descents on Stoddard Creek when tragedy struck. On his third descent of Stoddard Falls, Foamy was swept into a deeply undercut bank. Rescue efforts continued after the incident, but Foamy was never recovered. Foamy was a truly great miniature kayaker who was dedicated to doing the miniature things that he loved. Rest in peace Foamy.


I look forward to many more RiverSide trips on rivers in Idaho and beyond with Wilderness River Outfitters.

To see more of Henry's photos from the trip, go to www.flickr.com/henrymunter