Salmon River Trip Part 2

Back to the river....

As a reminder, if you want to see the photos on a larger scale, just click on them, they should get bigger.

Most mornings the Coffee Call came about 6:15, which didn't mean you had to get up yet if you didn't want to, but that coffee was ready for those early risers. Breakfast was ready about an hour later. After a hardy cooked breakfast, we'd pack up our personal stuff, while the crew packed up the kitchen and unit (bathroom facilities). Before heading downstream in the boats the crew would get together for a group hug! I'll have to ask Tucker what they talk about in that huddle, but it may be a trade secret!


Everyday had a stop or two to check out features along the river, like Barth Hot Springs,


Or the homestead of one of the early settlers.

I rode in Tucker's dory on two different days.

He even let me row his boat when the water was pretty calm!

But everyday brought whitewater thrills. Liz is on the left in the front of this boat.

This is Tucker getting ready to run Vinegar Rapid.

And here he is in the middle of the mayhem.

And after another fun day on the water, we'd pull into our camp, and get ready for some fun on the banks of this great river. We played some volleyball on a couple of beaches.

One afternoon we all got tattoos! Liz went for a flower,

While I chose a dragonfly.

And Tucker entertained us after dinner on a couple of occasions.

On our last night out, Dress to Impress Night, Tucker squeezed his skinny self into one of the girl-guides' dresses and was the prettiest thing on the beach! He looks like a bad boy looking for a good time!

Liz and I were so proud of him!

But alas, all good things must come to an end. I had a great time traveling with family and old friends.

And meeting and traveling with new friends made the trip very special and unique.
If this sounds like a fun vacation, I would encourage you to click here for more info about OARS, the outfitter that we traveled with this trip and many times in the past. They are the best!

So after today it will be back to minutiae of our lives. 

Hope all is well.

Salmon River Review, Part I

As I was going through my hundreds of photos from my river trip, I realized that I would have to divide up my trip review into 2 entries so that your computers would not self-destruct trying to download all the photos! So here is the Part 1, with Part 2 to follow tomorrow or Saturday (I'm pretty busy, now that I am home)! 

Now, fasten your seatbelts and be sure your tray tables and seats are in the full, upright position because we need to fly from Boise, ID to Salmon, ID, in a really small plane on a really windy day. 

The Salmon River, in all its wild glory!

The first day on the river included lots of "talks" by the guides how to be safe, how to eat, how to poop and, this talk by Tucker, on how to set up a tent. Liz and I slept out under the stars every night~what a treat!

Tucker led a short hike to this pictographs.

There were hikes to old homesteads, where we got to learn about the human history of the area....

And enjoy fruits of the old orchards. This is Tucker picking cherries and dropping them into his hat, being held by Liz.
Liz and I also took a long, arduous hike to a wonderful hilltop to get some impressive downstream views.

We learned about the history of one of the few foot bridges that crosses the Main Salmon River.

But each day, it was the river that provided our entertainment.

When we'd get to camp, 2 of the crew would be in charge of whipping up dinner. This night Tucker and Ashley made wonderful pork tenderloin dinner, which included this huge bowl of freshly made fruit salad and later, for dessert, a pineapple upside down cake baked in the dutch oven! Yummy!

Another night Curt made his famous Chicken and Dumplings, with Strawberry Shortcake for dessert!

And just so you don't think we only hiked and ate, here is some whitewater action.

After a day on the water, we'd get to the camp that Tucker signed us up for and we'd settle in for the evening. This is the patch of sand that Liz and I planned to call home for the night, but first it had to serve as the out-of-bounds line for our volleyball game.

Most nights there were some very competitive horseshoe games contested. Liz was usually in the middle of one of those games.

And then she dazzled both passengers and crew with a double ringer!!!

One night we watched this very determined wasp, sting and paralyze a spider, dig a hole in the sand, drag the spider into the hole, and then, after laying her eggs on the spider, filling the hole back in, completely covering any evidence that she was there, and flying away. It was soooo cool to see this Nature happening right in front of us!
Other nights our wildlife sightings would be on a larger scale, such as this big horned sheep peering over the edge of the cliff right above our camp. Shortly after this photo was snapped, he sent some loose rocks rolling down towards our camp. The rocks stopped just short of us, but not before we scampered out of the way.
I'll end part one right here. The next entry will include more whitewater photos and a few photos which may surprise you and make you laugh.

Hope all is well. 

Off the River

Liz and I finished our river trip this afternoon and in a word, it was wonderful! The weather was great and the people were wonderful.

I will post more completely when I get home and can include some photos. I am posting this entry from the computers at the Holiday Inn in Mc Call, Idaho.

I fly home tomorrow, arriving just after midnight.

So watch for my trip notes in the next few days, but know the trip exceeded my expectations! I'm pretty tired so I am going to clean up my hotel room and go to bed early.

I see from my blog that today is my blogversary! 2 years and counting! Thank you to all who have read this blog and encouraged me to continue.

Hope all is well.