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January Jump-Start Recap:

WOW!!! Maybe I’m just easy to impress but this meeting was a whole lot more interesting than I imagined it would be. I thought we would be listening to a bunch of ‘officials’ telling us about budget cutbacks and what they couldn’t afford to do for boaters and rivers and giving us an insight as to what river rights/pleasures we would likely lose in the future. Well, I was wrong, again. Everyone there were glued to their seats as one speaker after another got up and impressed us with what has been done and what great new things are planned for the future of our rivers. Shucks, they even listened with interest to our comments and suggestions! As you can probably guess; I thought it was a fantastic meeting.

Bill Hagedorn was the first to talk to us. He gave us a handout that outlined the 2002 statistics of the Payette River Fee Demo Project.  Fewer than 40,000 private boaters and almost 13,000 outfitters used this river system last year. About $20,000 was paid for daily passes and $ 8,500 paid for annual passes. And, for our money we got over $44,000 worth of projects such as improvements at Danskin, Chief Parrish, Deer Creek, Banks, and the Hot Spring Trail. Law enforcement also handed out 494 tickets for failure to pay the fee of which 343 paid. If anyone wants to see the whole page of cash flow items, let me know and I will e-mail it to you. Bill then introduced a new member to their team Ann Niesen. Welcome to Idaho Ann. She then got up and talked to us about the proposed and projected plans.

2003 PROPOSED PROJECT LIST & 2002 Pass Suggestions:
Alder Creek (F & G site) - Changing Room (further study with F&G) & Bathroom.
Banks - More Parking & Accessibility Ramp.
Beehive - Drinking Water, Improved Take out, & Improve for trailer access.
Big Falls - More maintenance/trash.
Bronco Billy - Maintain & Add Changing Room (Highway right-of-way too narrow).
Carbarton & Smiths Ferry - Add Bathroom (Outside project area).
Chief Parrish - Raft ramp & Fix Road.
Deadwood - Changing Rooms (low priority-space limitations).
Deer Creek - Add Improvements  & (Raft ramps at lower parking lot (USFS study).
Hot Springs - Bathroom and Changing Room (Too close to river – bathrooms in campground).
Pine Flats - (USFS fee's collected through Campground).
Staircase - Maintain (County - Ask Garden Valley Recreation District to consider). & Re-build and add improvements.
MISC. - More porta potties, Shuttle, Air pumps, & more boater info at launch ramps (don't fill rafts in middle of ramp).
Next Ann talked to us about some of the projects that were on the ‘books’.
USFS/BLM Planned & New Ideas:
Banks - Dressing Room / BLM design ($11,000) & Accessibility Ramp.
Banks Bridge - Site Development (Deferred - Hwy 55 safety).
Beehive- Accessibility Ramp
Big Falls  - Portage Trail Improvements ($5,000); (Phase I - Scope for stairs Phase 2)
Chief Parrish - Paving Road Spring 2003 (S5.000) & Bathroom Accessibility
Confluence - Accessibility Ramp & Host Site Improvements (In Stream Flow (USFS study)
Danskin - Dressing Room BLM 2003 ($1l, 000) & Ramp damage ($1,000).
Deadwood - Stream eddy / (USFS study); ($2,000) & Launch Ramp / Construct 2004, Sanitation signing Spring 2003 ($500).
Deer Creek - Accessibility (rental).
Parnell Beech/Porter Creek - Paving Road Spring 2003 ($5,000).
Pine Flats - Improve access trail (USFS study). & Sanitation signing Spring 2003 ($500).
MISC. - Harden fee tubes (Accessibility), Update maps / Payette River White Water, Flyer (Increase Safety messages) ($500), & Fiberglass Embedment for Maps.
All in all Ann passed out a lot of encouraging and interesting information. Thanks Ann.

Next it was Lisa Applebee with her large picture of the Hwy 55 realignment proposals.
I had read the ID Trans. Dept. brochure on the realignment options and I was ‘confused’ as to what was going on. Well, Lisa did a great job of wiping away any and all confusion! There are three optional routes – build complete new roads east or west of Smiths Ferry; complete with new bridges and all. Lisa, being the engineer that she is, REALLY liked one of these options because it called for building a bridge over 1000 feet long some 250 feet above the river! The fourth and last option called for reconstructing the existing road. Something about making all the curves 45 to 50 MPH curves.

Right now the whole project is in that ‘black hole’ called the Environmental Impact Study. Sounds like that could take some time; with construction on the approved option starting sometime after 2006. Rainbow Bridge is slated for a complete rehab in 2005.

Lisa said that recreational access is very much an issue in all their planning. If the existing road is reconstructed improved parking and purchase of the land at the Carbarton takeout is being considered.

It was getting well past midnight by this time (not really, everyone was very concise and to the point). Bill Sedivy was next up and in his serious but fun way he informed us of all the things that IRU have been up to in 2002 and what they plan on being up to in 2003. Bill told us of all the involvement IRU had in making the Bear River Settlement. A little more egg on my face from what was in last month’s newsletter.

But, hey, I like eggs and, besides, they’re good for you now. Sorry Bill. I need to take better notes (or my tape recorder) but Bill told us of five dams they stopped - probably on some river/s. Ask Bill, he’ll fill you in on all the details. No matter where they were, it’s a remarkable accomplishment. He updated us on the Snake River Rejudification (water rights issues) and how IRU was able to get themselves to the bargining table on this issue; on the issues concerning the flow allocations on the Main and Middle Fork of the Salmon; on negoiations they are in with the State and Feds on access and use for all users of the Boise River from its headwaters to where it empties into the Snake. Looking at their future issues are Hells Canyon reliscensing is coming up in 2003 for Id Power and they developed a 25,000 page report to say they wanted no water flow changes. IRU and others feel that the flow fluctuations are too drastic and too quick for reptatian issues. They are still working on getting the Owyhee, Bruneau, and Jarbidge designated as wild and scenic. Right now the talks are mostly stalled. Bill said that the designation would give boaters more management and better access to the river. Permits?

Bill also showed us a drawing of a ‘possible’ whitewater liscense plate! IT LOOKED GREAT – I NEED ONE. Right now there is a steering committee looking at where the revenue from such plates would go; safety training?? If you have any ideas or suggestions please e-mail them to me and I will get them to the committee.
And on the down side, non motorized boating liscening is still popping up in various agency converstions. Seems that some of the motorized boaters feel that if they have to have a liscense then we should.

Bill S. like Bill H. also introduced a new member to the IRU team; Jessica Hixson. I think Jessica was afraid of us because she didn’t get up and talk to us. Actually it is more likely that by the time Bill was done there was nothing left to say except, “Hi”. I’m sure we’ll hear and see lots more of Jessica in the future. I didn’t catch where Jessica hails from – but a BIG welcome goes to Jessica too.

It was getting late in the evening and everyone was just starting to get up to leave when, with a wink of his eye down the chimney (actually in the front door) came John Watts. He apologized for being a little late as he removed a name tag from his coat. He explained that this was the fourth or fifth meeting he had to attend this evening. What an enthusiastic speaker! And a boater too!! I think if you look closely you can almost see a spray skirt sticking out from under his coat!!! He said there wasn’t much going on concerning boaters in the Fish and Game world. So he talked to us briefly about the 2020 Task Force, the Access Yes Program, and something about plants. At first I thought he was talking about planting fish in streams. After all, he is from F & G. Then he started talking about biologists (what do they have to do with fish?). This is another one where you will have to talk to John the next time you see him to get the full story. He did have some concerns about the Access Yes Program; will it be for hunters and fisherman only or can boaters carry their boats across private land to get to the ‘perfect’ put in? He said there are still a lot of ifs concerning the program and it will take lots of work and quite a few $$$ before it is all set in stone. As a parting comment he did mention that they were working on the possibility of a whitewater park on the Boise River from the 36th street wave down to somewhere along Veterans Park! Stay tuned.

February 5 – Wednesday – Dutch Oven Cooking and Sea Kayaking - Cascade/Maravia Raft Company
604 E 45th, Garden City (by the river).

I sure am glad I like eggs! I got an ostrich egg in the face at the board meeting when they informed me that Pat does sea kayaking in Alaska (!) NOT Hawaii. Glad I’m not getting paid for this – I’d probably get fired if I was. So, wear your mukluks NOT your grass skirt!

While dinner is cooking, Pat Robbins will entertain us with a slide show of Sea Kayaking in Alaska.  Doug Timms might be persuaded to give a short history of inflatables. Check out Pat’s website at www.italio.com

Italio River Adventures is a fly fishing, waterfowl and adventure tourism company based in the heart of the Tongass National Forest.  As one of the few guide/outfitters approved to operate in this pristine wilderness, Italio River Adventures can customize a vacation package that will dazzle and amaze the most seasoned traveler.  The possibilities for unparalleled excitement in this unbelievably beautiful landscape are endless.

The Italio River system sits 25 miles southeast of Yakutat, Alaska.  Surrounded by the tallest coastal mountain range in the world, the Yakutat foreland is a maze of crisscrossing fresh and glacial streams.  With uncountable lakes, rivers and ponds, we feature some of the greatest sport fishing in the world.  All five species of Pacific salmon thrive in these streams, along with a variety of trout, Steelhead and char.  Reel sizzling fishing lasts nearly year 'round.  The human population is grossly outnumbered enabling most trips to pass without seeing another person,  however bear,  moose,  bald eagle and wolf are everywhere.

The St Elias Range consists of 17 named mountains taller than the highest point in the lower 48.  The towering 18,008 foot Mt.  St.   Elias was the first land sighted by Vitus Bering in 1741.  You will understand how, lost in the fog for days and off course by 1000 miles, this jagged peak gave the explorer for Russia hope.  Today, it rises out of the Malaspina, the largest glacier in North America and larger than the state of Rhode Island.  The 15,300 foot Mt.  Fairweather peaks only 15 miles from the ocean surf, making it the most dramatic rise from sea level on the globe.

Take some time to tour our site.  Fishing isn't the only activity to enjoy with Italio River Adventures.  Sea kayaking,  wildlife viewing,  waterfowl hunting,  glacier tours,  river floats,  hiking,  beachcombing,  surfing...  if you are looking for adventure,  or peace and tranquility,  Italio River Adventures has it all.  Each topic on the left has several in-depth features.  You'll be able to pinpoint your area of interest and see how Italio River Adventures can bring them to life for you.
Italio River Adventures is authorized by the U.S.  Forest Service to operate in the Tongass National Forest.  If you have any questions, or comments, feel free to E-mail Bob Miller at bob@italio.com, or Pat Robbins at pat@italio.com.  I love to talk about my favorite subject, let Italio River Adventures make it your favorite as well.

For the potluck part of this – here’s the ad.
Whale Pods and Potluck!

     Sea Kayaking with  Pat Robbins
Come and join in the fun and food!  It’s not such a good snow year so far, so tempt your river dreams with this evening’s potluck – Yep, you bring it – and hear Pat Robbins stories about Alaska and sea kayaking.

Here’s the deal, Your Board of Directors will have firepans set up and ready for YOUR ‘OVENS’ for dutch oven cooking (bring your own serving utensils {please}) at 6:00 p.m. to Cascade Outfitters/Maravia Raft Company on Wednesday, February 5.  We will take care of paper plates, plastic dinner ware, napkins, and coolers with ice, bottled water and sodas. (Maravia is providing the charcoal).  Please be sure your dish will feed at least 8 hungry rafters, you know how you are on the river . . .   If you can’t figure out what to bring, PLEASE follow the suggestions below:

A through E: Main Dish
F through L: Side Dishes or Salad
M through S: Appetizers or bread
T through Z: Dessert

Bring the receipe for the ‘dish’ you brought as, THIS IS A CONTEST!!!! Nothing competitive about our group. We’ll make-up/rig the contest rules as we go along and the top three dishes will be printed in next months newsletter. Prizes will also be awarded.

Oh, and by the way, BYOB, we’ll have ice!

Someone (on the board) told me to watch channel 4 on Saturday morning (9:30am). It would give me ideas on dutch oven cooking. I’ve seen it done once and Bronwyn just bought a new aluminum set. The bad news is she will be out of town for this event. HELP!!!!!

DUES ARE DUE…..

2003 dues are now due. The cost is only $15.00. Be sure to pay by or at the Annual Meeting on April 2 to be able to participate in the raffle for a free Aire boat and to keep on getting your Newsletter.  Use the application on the back of the newsletter or if none of your info has changed, just put a check in the mail to IWA, P.O. Box 6135, Boise, ID 83707.

VOLUNTEERS – WE NEED YOUR ARTICLES, IDEAS FOR SPEAKERS, WANT ADS, HUMOR, HISTORY, ETC.
If you would like to present a program at one of our meetings, let one of the board members know.

Calendar of Events:

March 5 – Snow Pack Fortune Telling and A Tale of Two Rivers – Idaho River Sports

Ron Abramovich will give us his annual snowpack/flow report. At this time he may not have much to report but keep the faith – January and February 2003 could produce record snowfall for the Idaho Mountains.  John Heimer will give an encore presentation of his informative tale of the Boise River and the Middle Fork of the Salmon and what changes there have been over the last 40 years (John, are you really that old?).  Don’t miss this one – it will get you in the spirit to paddle.

April 2 – Annual Membership Meeting and Election of Officers – Aire Factory

Start thinking about new life for the Board. If you’re not willing to spend a few hours a month at least get together with some of your buddies and nominate one of your ‘friends’! Lots of people voted for Term Limits – does that apply to IWA board members too? Remember to pay your 2003 dues so you can participate in the raffle for the Aire boat.  We might even get to see the AMAZING self-healing tube again.

May 3:  Used Equipment Sale.

Eastman and 13th, next to IRS.

Gear for Sale

  ?EXTRASPORT BUDDY MODEL LIFEJACKETS CLASS V. $45 EACH COST NEW $110 ALL IN VERY GOOD CONDITION ASSORTED SIZES.
    CRAZYCREEK BRAND POWER LOUNGER BEACH CHAIRS. $10 EACH COST NEW $37 ALL IN GOOD CONDITION.
    JACK'S PLACTIC BRAND SMALL DRY BAGS $5 EACH COST NEW $35 VERY GOOD TO FIXABLE CONDITION.
    CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT TO SEE THEM NEAR WARM SPRINGS GOLF COURSE: DAVE MILLS 208-345-2400

? Beautiful, Wilderness Systems Kevlar touring kayak. Sleek and lite – Wonderful Valentines present. $500 OBO. Bronwyn @ 853-1728 bronwynmyers@cableone.net

Let us know if you sold your stuff!

rpmyers@cableone.net

Some Parting Shots:

Disclaimer: The layout, content, and wording of the IWA newsletter is the sole responsibility of the newsletter editor (me-Ron Myers). If any of the content, wording, etc offends anyone PLEASE let me know and I will try my best not to do it again. You can e-mail me or if you prefer to remain anonymous you can send an unsigned letter/note to me at: 5133 N Liverpool Ave, Boise, ID 83714. So, if you’re unhappy about whats in the newsletter, let me be the first to know. Thanks.

We’re getting REAL serious about this one. By the time the next newsletter comes out we will probably have one. So, if you have a small (25 to 50 watt), compact, portable PA system with wireless or wired mic capabilities please e-mail me (rpmyers@cableone.net ).Thank you.
Well, as of Tuesday’s board meeting this is no longer just a passing thought. An e-mail version of our newsletter instead of the printed version is now available. Please bear in mind that the newsletter files are getting larger as I keep adding pictures. For example, this newsletters file size is about 7 megabites. So, if you have a fast modem or lots of time. Send me an e-mail to sign up for this feature.
One final item we have discussed in our board meetings is the sharing of the IWA membership list with other like-minded organizations in our area (ie. IRU, IRS, local departments seeking opinions/comments, etc.). We have had requests in the past and have not released our list. The current board consensus is to make it an individual option to be indicated on one of those little check boxes at the bottom of your membersip form. So . . . something else you’ll hear more about at the annual meeting. Keep this one in mind.

The following is a reprint from the February 2003 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE magazine.

THE LOST CANYON OF THE SILVER SAGE

By Jeff Greenwald – Photography by Jay Dickman

It Looks easy enough on paper. First head out of Boise Idaho, hugging the interstate toward Mountain Home. Hook a right onto Route 51, a lonely strip of asphalt that plunges due south slicing through the prairies toward the Nevada line. Just past Riddle lies the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, in a huge and desolate expanse of land that has been inhabited by the Paiute and Shoshone Indians for more than 10,000 years. But the map, as every adventurer knows, is not the territory. That fact quickly becomes obvious to me as trio of Chevy Suburbans, bounces out of Duck Valley over a track of dust, boulders, and spleen-bruising potholes. Here is True West, the wagon train frontier, covered with rattlers and bones. Undulating plains of silvery sage roll away in all directions, like the floor of a limitless sea. There are no gas stations, no power lines, nothing to disturb the naked spread of terrain. The very existence of a map to this place seems a travesty Squinting through the dust-coated windshield, I have a difficult time accepting that we're just a few miles from our destination: the Owyhee River, a desert waterway that, thanks to dicey roads and a short season, remains one of the West's greatest adventure secrets. To those in the know, it ranks among the country's most beautiful paddling runs, a challenging trip through a precipitous, nearly pristine canyon. At the wheel is Bob Sevy, who will be leading our group on a six-day journey down the South Fork of the Owyhee and onto the river's main branch. We'll paddle inflatable kayaks and a single supply raft, beginning in southwestern Idaho and finishing in southeastern Oregon, 48 miles in all. If we had more time, we could go even farther. "Outside of Alaska, could go even farther.

there are only two wilderness rivers in this country where you can put in and have movement for the next 18 days—the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and the Owyhee," says Sevy "And on the Owyhee, you don't see anyone else."

But the solitude and sanctity of the Owyhee Canyonlands are not to be taken for granted. An effort to win national monument status for the region died along with the Clinton administration. The area is now a political and environmental powder keg, and its use is contested by cowboys and conservationists, Indians and the Air Force. The region's administration is left to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an underfunded agency pinned between shrewd environmental groups and politically powerful ranchers. The Owyhee is America's final frontier— and everyone wants a piece of it. Our truck slows abruptly, and I grip the dash. We negotiate a series of hairpin curves, switchbacking down into a canyon. The 45 Ranch, our put-in, is as desolate as it gets: a log cabin and a stand of snake-infested supply shacks sunk deep into the earth. Just five hours from Boise, we've reached the ticket booth for Hades.

COLD CUTS ARE SPREAD on a folding table by the river; paper plates are weighted against the breeze. I fix myself a turkey sandwich as Sevy and the assistant guides—Matt Leidecker, 28, and Larry McGowan, 54—pump up the inflatable kayaks to kettledrum tautness. Then we spend about 20 minutes squirming into wet suits. It's May—late in the Owyhee season, which generally lasts about 30 days and can take place anytime between April and mid-June—but still chilly Sevy glances down the river. The wind is picking up, which will slow our progress, but he doesn't seem concerned.

Sevy, 55, has been a river rat since the age of 14; he launched his own guide service in 1972. He's calm by nature, but by no means complacent. For two decades, Sevy has been one of the Owyhee's most vocal defenders. He was a key supporter of the national monument drive, and he was instrumental in persuading the government to limit the use of the area as an Air Force bombing range. Sevy is continually trying to generate support for protecting the river—if necessary, one paddler at a time.

"This is the place," Sevy says, cinching down a dry bag on the raft. "It's the Sistine Chapel of canyonlands." Some 14 million years ago, the area was rocked by a series of volcanic eruptions. Billions of tons of ash blackened the air, fell to the ground, and hardened into a rough, dun-colored rock called
rhyolite. Then rivers formed and began to cut into the plateau, carving a network of canyons with sheer red walls, terraces, and hoodoos. According to the BLM, the Owyhee Canyonlands is "the most rugged, remote, and least known high desert canyon complex in North America ... and also perhaps the most spectacular."
I SLIP INTO MY KAYAK and push it into the swift green water. The current pulls me from the bank, and I feel a surge of exhilaration—this is my first time paddling solo on white water. It's gratifying to be facing the river one-on-one. And the run we're doing—the Upper Owyhee—is a good one for developing paddling skills. The boat feels a bit squirrelly, like an underfilled water bed, but I'll have two days to get the hang of it before we face any serious rapids.
Down the river and through the looking glass. We float past monolithic rhyolite walls, eroded into drunken columns and streaked with green and yellow lichen. The hoodoos loom over the river, a menagerie of weird figures. Mud swallow nests cling to the canyon walls, rimmed with frost. Canada geese lift from the banks and flap, honking, downriver.

It's a drought year, and the water is low: barely enough to keep us off the sandbars. The wind is often fierce, shooting upstream, a cartoon fist holding our kayaks in place. When it dies, the calm is beatific: no sounds but birdcalls, streaming water, and the thin gurgle of our paddles cutting into the river.

After a few hours, Sevy pulls ahead and directs us to eddy out at a bend near Spring Creek Basin. The current is strong, and I almost overshoot the bank; my kayak control is far from intuitive. We find a campsite below a looming cliff   and sip from our flasks as the sun drops out of sight.

   I'm midway through pitching my tent when I hear a roar; it's an F-16, Sevy says, out of Mountain Home Air Force Base. According to Lahsha Johnston of the Idaho Wilderness Society, the U.S. Air Force (and other branches of the military) conducts 7,800 training flights a year in the Owyhee area. The sonic booms shatter the still air over Indian burial grounds and disturb breeding populations of California bighorn sheep. An initial Air Force proposal to use 1.5 million acres around the Owyhee River for a combat and bombing range was defeated in 1990. In 2001, the Air Force settled for 12,000 acres, located roughly 80 miles west of where we are now But it also got the right to install 24 "threat emitters"—electronic stand-ins for the enemy—over the larger area. All in all, it was a Pyrrhic victory for environmentalists.  "The Air Force contractors have already caused wildfires," Johnston says. "They've created 14-foot-wide gravel roads and built fences around some of the emitters. So in an area that was relatively wild, you're seeing impacts. It's not the same landscape."

Under pressure from a coalition of conservationists and outfitters (Sevy among them), the Air Force also agreed that it would restrict supersonic flights over the canyons from April to June. That's great for us transients. But the area's residents—which include cougars, sage-grouse, antelope, and falcons—had better buy earplugs. The jet's thunder gradually fades; Sevy sighs, then gets back to his chores. He, Leidecker, and McGowan are preparing a meal of | honey-glazed salmon and couscous, with cheesecake for dessert. We eat like stevedores and press close to the campfire, sipping schnapps and telling jokes amid clouds of burning sage.

THE NEXT MORNING  we load up the boats and push off with the sun shining, the wind down, and those strange hoodoos watching over us like sentries. The minutes slip easily into hours as we drift along. By midafternoon we reach a sharp bend below Juniper Basin and pull up at a long stretch of beach. I toss a water bottle into my daypack, and a few of us set out with Sevy on a hike to the canyon. We head toward a steep rise, rattling up patches of scree. The track takes us through yellow mule's ears and crimson Indian paintbrush, which blossom amid the willow and sage. Under our feet the ground is littered with "thunder eggs"—broken geodes filled with agate, jasper, and other minerals that crystallized when this area cooled from a stew of lava and ash. As a sudden squall blasts the canyon—and the sky, amazingly, fills with snow—we duck into a shallow cave. The low ceiling is blackened by the fires of ancient hunters. I sift through the dust and animal bones on the cave floor and find broken arrowheads. Historical sites such as these are in grave danger from looters, many of whom arrive in all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). "They make it possible for people to reach otherwise inaccessible sites," says Ted Howard, the cultural resources director of Duck Valley's Shoshone-Paiute Tribes. "ATVs give them the opportunity to carry in tools and carry and carry out artifacts. And they can do it in a hurry."

The storm passes as quickly as it appeared. We leave the cave and climb on. Soon we're standing on the rim itself, a thousand feet above the silver river. To the northeast we see tomorrow's run, where the South Fork meets the East to form the main Owyhee. The sun breaks free, lancing the canyon with shafts of light. It's a breathtaking landscape: The sage frontier is shattered into a labyrinth of raw rifts, pulsing with white water.

Sevy points south. Far below, our kayaks are scattered on the banks. "It's like a knife split the Earth," he says, "and we're at the bottom of it."

THAT NIGHT: ZIPPED into my sleeping bag after another lavish campfire dinner, I have a dream. I'm dressed in a tux, paddling toward a rapid. The kayak flips, and I find myself clinging by my fingertips to a slippery rock on the edge of a churning whirlpool. My greatest terror, somehow, is that I'll lose my bow tie. Sevy is yelling from the bank. He tosses me a line; it falls short. I grope to reach it, but. . .
Waking with a start, I'm instantly aware of the inspiration for that particular nightmare. Come morning, this city boy will have his first real test on the river: Bald Mountain Canyon, a Class III rapid.

We eat breakfast on our feet, squinting in the white light of dawn. Everyone is eager to get moving. Once on the river, we quickly reach—and pass—the confluence with the East Fork. We're on the main Owyhee now, and it shows. The canyon is wider, the water deeper, the hoodoos even stranger. It seems like we're floating through an open-air gallery of Rodin sculptures. Tall humanoid figures loom over our kayaks. Approaching Bald Mountain, we steer ashore and leave the boats to scout. Leidecker shows us how to spot the main channel and points out a few rocks hidden below the surface. The line we'll need to run seems straightforward enough, but I'm feeling the kind of anxiety that usually attends a first parachute jump. Back in my kayak, I head for the dark, deep water that Leidecker had indicated. With a loud whoop I shoot right, paddling like a demon to avoid the tank-size boulders nosing out of the foam.

In a matter of seconds, I'm through.

THE FOLLOWING DAY dawns windless but icy cold. The kayak valves are frozen tight; we use hot water to unstick them, then top the boats off with air. "Today the river shows us what it can do," Sevy says.

I'm eager but aching; three days of paddling have turned I my hands into corned beef. McGowan fishes a roll of tape out of his first aid kit and wraps up my thumbs. We paddle for an hour in silence. Somewhere along this stretch we leave Idaho and enter Oregon, where the canyon enjoys protection as a National Wild and Scenic River. Now a distant roar begins to build: We're approaching Cabin Rapid.  Most of the cataract is Class IV, too sporty for novices. We pull over, leash the kayaks, and guide them along

(to be continued next month) don’t cha hate that!

It reminds me of the story about the Robin:

Seem there was a Robin sitting on a cow barn rafter one VERY cold winter day. Well, he froze and fell off the rafter. Lucky for him a cow had just passed below him and dropped a big juicy cow-pie and, sure enough, the Robin landed right in the middle of it. It was so warm that the Robin thawed out. The Robin came to, looked around, and thought, “I might be in the middle of a cow pie, but it saved my life”! Well, the Robin was so happy that he began to sing and sing. However, all of his singing attracted the attention of the barn cat. The cat promptly ran over, pulled the Robin out of the cow-pie, and ate him.

Many people think Idaho is kind of a slow, backwards, out of the way (cow-pie kind of a) state. We better quit being so happy and singing so loudly. If the cat isn’t already on his way toward us.

Your Board of Directors:

Jeri Rose, President.   342-2305
airehead@hotmail.com

Mel Johnson, Treas.   343-0970
n2wh20@peoplepc.com

Bronwyn Myers, Sec.      853-1728
bronwynmyers@cableone.net

Stan Kolby, Board Mbr.   338-0546
skolby@rmci.net

Bill Latta, Board Mbr.   344-9443
lattaslaw@cableone.net

John Strange, Board Mbr. 342-2305
airehead@hotmail.com

Susan Wildwood, Board Mbr.   383-0390
darkfire@cableone.net

Ron Myers, Newsletter Editor                853-1728
rpmyers@cableone.net

Vince's Idaho Whitewater Page
http://www.webpak.net/~rafter/

Real-Time Data for Idaho: Streamflow
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/current/?type=flow

Paddling
http://gorp.com/gorp/activity/paddle.htm

Paddling.net: Canoeing and Kayaking Info
http://www.paddling.net/

American Whitewater Association
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/index.phtml
 
 

mailto:idahowhitewater@hotmail.com or
lattaslaw@home.com
 
 

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