I’d never been on a raft support river trip before. Admittedly I had never been on a multi day whitewater trip (crazy I know).

Signing up only two weeks in advance, I had no idea what I was in for; the other 22 people had been planning and plotting, cooking and packing for months. I could barely wrap my brain around putting all my gear in one bag (I’m a car camper, live out of your van kinda girl)!

The morning of our departure the rivers edge was a sea of colours. Rafts were rigged, coolers were filled and bags were being loaded. I started to feel lost and overwhelmed in a world of unfamiliar territory. By the time our flotilla made it out into the middle of the river and we began our decent of the Middle Fork of the Salmon I realized the on-water part would be easy it was the off-water part that would be my personal challenge.

7 days through 98 miles of whitewater in the largest designated wilderness area in the contiguous 48 states. I was like a kid in a candy store. The water level was reasonably high sitting around the 5ft mark. The rapids were big but most flushed through into big wave trains providing heaps of catch on the fly, kick flips, wave wheels and macho moves. Even on days when rapids were scheduled to be small and uneventful there was always something to surf. Some of the spots were so amazing I even resorted to hiking back up (and so far I have no signs of poison ivy – yes!). The canyon was breath-taking, at times surreal. Did you know the canyon is one of the deepest in North American - deeper than the Grand Canyon, crazy!

On a trip of this magnitude everything requires a strong team. Group dynamics are of utmost importance as everyone is needed to make communication, loading/unloading, cooking and cleaning go as smoothly as possible. Unfortunately I knew nothing. I was green and I knew it. I watch, questioned and pitched in where ever I could and I still felt like there was more I could be doing.

There was always a tent to pitch, a bag to load, or a dish to wash. And as with most wilderness trips we were required to pack out what we packed in. This meant we had to be meticulous about everything. No scraps left behind and the groover (this is the porta-toilet that was named so by the military who originally used ammo cans for their toilet….which would leave grooves in their behind) was in full effect. *Sidebar - to the person/s who put the groover in my tent…. Sleep with one eye open. I learned a lot about working as a team and how to camp with a leave no trace mentality (big thank you to all who took the time to show me the way).

I don’t think anything can prepare you for a wilderness trip such as the Middle Fork of the Salmon. For me it was a learn-as-you-go situation and definitely one of the most rewarding trips I have ever been a part of. If you ever have the chance – GO!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 10:30 am and is filed under Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.