Canadian and Alaskan Adventures

After 5 weeks in Alaska I have returned to Idaho. My time spent in AK was fantastic, but it does feel good to be home. Taking a new camera to a place like the Upper Alsek and Tat can be dangerous. I returned with around 2,000 photos from my two trips in the North. Going through all of my photos should keep my busy through some of the winter months.

The first trip was down the Alsek, a 12-day adventure. Starting in Kluane National park in Yukon Territory, then entering BC and the Tat-Alsek Provincial Park, and ending in the famous Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. The weather on the trip was wonderfully hot and dry for the most part. The blue skies and clean air allowed for the great views that the Alsek is famous for in the upper portion of the trip. Within 5 minutes of leaving Serpentine Creek the first Grizzly Bear was spotted. Later that day there was a brilliant display put on by a moose running and swimming in the river. The new camera was shooting at full speed, resulting in around 30 moose photos. The first nights camp was at the upper beachview camp, the location of last years winning photo in the contest. With just a few clouds in the skies, the magnificent sunset capped off a great start to the trip. A day like that just sets the pace for a 12-day trip of great views, the discovery of many spectacular natural phenomenon, and little paradise lakes for swimming in this truly wild and wilderness area.

This trip was special because of a celebrity guests we had along. Well maybe not celebrities, but special people with a family history on the Alsek River. Walt Blackadar left his mark on the Alsek in 1971, when he made the first decent of Turnback Canyon. Not only was it the first decent, but he was on a solo mission. Since then, no one has yet to make a high-water decent of the canyon. Elite kayakers today do run the canyon at low flows, but the kayaks and gear technology have come a long way since the 70's. In the 80's the impressive mountain that guards the canyon was designated Mt. Blackadar. Mt. Blackadar and Kennedy are the only two mountains in Canada named after Americans. We were lucky to have two of Walt's daughters along on our trip this summer, Sue Blackadar and Nan Bryant. Bill Blackadar was also guiding for us this summer, a grandchild of Walt. Nan and Sue had never been down the Alsek, making it a special trip for them. When we came around the corner at Range Creek, Mt Blackadar stood in the clear sky in all its glory. This was definitely a special moment for the family. It was arranged for the Blackadar family to get a special ride in the helicopter by Bob Blackadar, brother of Nan and Sue. I was lucky to occupy the 4th seat in the ship for the family tour, a real treat for me. The picture below are the three Blackadars at the Walt memorial.

After leaving the confluence some clouds came in, but how lucky we had been treated with the weather on the upper portion of the trip, it was hard to complain about some rain. From Dry Bay it was back to Haines to start getting ready for the Tatshenshini for me and John. For Bill and Amy it was a plane, boat, plane, car combo to make their way back to Salmon.

On the Tatshenshini we had a smaller trip, just 2 boats. On this trip we also got very lucky with the weather. From weeks of drought there were forest fires burning in the interior which blew in some smoke in the middle of the trip. It was definitely the consensus of the group that we preferred the haze over rain. We got in a great hike up Sediments Creek before we got into the smoke which was nice. After having some great days of white-water, hiking, and camping we reached to confluence with the Alsek. From the confluence down to Walker Glacier was the last of the haze. We had a light rain at Walker which cleaned out the air, which was great. The next morning the clouds lifted and showed us Walker in the pure sun. It just got better from there, all the views opened in the lower canyon. Clear skies gave us great views up the Novatak Glacier. The clouds parted and displayed Fairweather towering above at 15,300 ft. From there it was into Alsek Lake, where the skies turned blue for the day out touring the lake among the giant icebergs. Words can not describe this, so I will substitute pictures. From there it was back to Haines to clean up the trip and start my journey back to my home in the Lemhi Valley.

Walker Glacier

As I sort through my photos I will post them on a Flickr account for people on the trips to download if they wish or for anyone to check out. When I get that done, I will post a link with instructions on how to use that system.

Mt. Fairweather 15,300 ft

Alsek Lake

Indian Paintbrush

Moose

Hikers on Goatherd Mt.

After a few days around the house, its back to the Middle Fork Salmon. Well I hope you enjoy some of the pictures from my new camera.

Seth Tonsmeire

Rescue Mission

After returning from Montana, I was back on Idaho's Middle Fork Salmon. The last night of the trip we happen to be camped at Stoddard, the same camp where the Foamy incident happened two weeks earlier. I decided I would go on a search and rescue mission for Foamy before dinner. The nasty undercut bank below Stoddard Falls that had claimed Foamy two weeks earlier had opened up with the lower water. With many roots hanging down, it had formed a net that had caught Foamy. As it turns out being a kayaker made of foam has its advantages, and spending two weeks in an undercut seemed to have done no damage. I guess we were a little earlier with the the "Foamy Rest In Peace." After a short trip in the U.S. Postal system, Foamy will be returned to his rightful owner and will certainly live on for many more white-water days.

Well, for me its off to the great north now for an Upper Alsek and Tatshenshini trip. With a new camera in hand, I hope to have many great photos to share when I return.

Seth Tonsmeire

Flathead Update

Hello from the Flathead! We've just gotten off the second Middle Fork Flathead trip, and so far the season up in Montana is going great. With the trip just off the river, Seth, Shane, and Jessie are on a whirlwind ride back to Idaho for more Salmon River adventures. I'm off to Glacier Park to sneak in a backpacking trip into the wilds of Glacier Park with Joe Biby before we have to prepare our upcoming South Fork trip. Here's a few photos from the Middle Fork...

Richard behind the wheel

Beargrass flowers and hikers on the trail to Mount Bradley

Susan kayaks into the gates at Twenty-five Mile


Wildflowers and Snowpeople

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

The Desert Report

We have just returned from the deserts of southern Idaho and eastern Oregon.  It is always an amazing experience to explore these narrow cracks in the Snake River Plain.  We did one trip on the Upper Owyhee, one Middle Owyhee, and a Jarbidge/Bruneau.  All three were truly spectacular journeys through a cross-section of an ancient caldera volcano.  The Owyhee Canyonlands in one of the most remote areas in the lower 48.  Total on all three trips, we only saw one other rafting trip in the three week period.  

The remote area, hard to predict spring run-off, challenging white-water, and fluctuating weather of the Owyhee River all combined for epic adventures.  The two kayakers, Owyhee enthusiast Marcy St. John, and the guides involved will certainly have stories to tell from the Upper trip.  We dealt with just about every kind a weather condition out there, portaging, challenging technical white-water, and low water.  With that being said we shared great company and had a memorable time in this remote desert canyon that very few people ever get to see.  There was great canyon hiking, brillant displays of birds of prey, good food, and Marcy even found a California Big Horn Ram winter kill (a real treasure of a find).  The night before we planned to exit the canyon at Garret Crossing the desert skies put down over an inch a rain.  That kind of rain in the Owyhee desert makes for sloppy 4WD conditions.  With all four tires chained up and some skilled driving we were able to make it out of the Canyon with all of our gear as planned.

With more rain, the put in for the Middle Owyhee also proved be another 4WD challenge.  For this section we were join by three more rafters and one more kayaker.  With more water now the white-water excitement picked up, the weather improved, and with wild flowers in full bloom, a variety of bird life, and impressive Indian artifacts this Middle Owyhee trip in Oregon was fantastic.

After the Middle it was a quick turn around for the Jarbidge Bruneau trip.  We had long time WRO guest Bill Bush doing a row your own, along with his son Beau also in his own boat.  This proved quickly to be exciting for everyone involved.  With each of these two in their own boat and two guides with their own boats made for a unique trip.  With the Jarbidge section of the trip being fast water the whole way with substantial rapids scattered throughout the whole trip made for good excitement.  It was a great trip for practicing river rescue and river safety.  All in all though these two texas boys did pretty well in the Idaho desert.

The Owyhee and Jarbidge/Bruneau Rivers have proven to be some of my favorite places I have ever been.  Truly special places that few people are fortunate enough to ever see.  After returning from guiding trips in these areas always leaves me feeling pretty lucky.  Also I am reminded of how when traveling in these areas there will always be adventure, just accessing these rivers can be an adventure in its self.  You can always have plan A, but sometime you can quickly find yourself at plan B, C, or sometimes even D when your out there in the desert paradise of Southern Idaho and eastern Oregon.

Seth Tonsmeire