3 Day Spring High Water Adventure

3 Day Spring High Water Adventure

3 Day Spring High Water

MIDDLE FORK OF THE SALMON RIVER- IDAHO

3 Days to raft 34 miles thru Impassable Canyon, the most scenic section of the Middle Fork.   There is no one on the river this time of year as there is still snow on the road to the upper put-in point. We fly into the Flying B Ranch (mile 66 on river) right from Boise start the adventure. The water is usually flowing around 10mph so we can make a lot of miles and also have time for visiting many waterfalls along the way and go for some epic hiking as well.

The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is the premier wilderness rafting trip in the US. It’s gin clear water flows 100 miles of Wild and Scenic free-flowing river, through the largest roadless wilderness area in the US and in a canyon that is deeper than the Grand Canyon.  The Middle Fork of the Salmon is an unspoiled, remote and pristine wilderness much as it was 100 years ago or more. Named by National Geographic as one of the top 3 river trips in the world, the Middle Fork will provide you with a vacation of a lifetime.

ITINERARY

F Please arrive in Boise, Idaho the night before the trip begins.

(Overnight in Boise is not included)

DAY 1

We meet this morning at 8am at the Boise Airport and depart for 1 hour flight to the Flying B Ranch. We have an orientation, pack your duffel bags into dry bags and then board the rafts and head downstream.   We will hike today to a scenic vista high above the river. We will navigate fun whitewater such as Haystack, Bernard, Earthquake Rock, and Jack Creek, visit some Indian Pictographs at Rattlesnake Cave and go for a hike up and over a saddle which has stunning views of the river as well as camp below.

Day 2

We enter Impassible Canyon, where no trails can be cut as the sheer walls go up over 3,000 feet. This section of river is deeper than Grand Canyon. We will navigate fun whitewater such as Waterfall Creek, Cutthroat Cove, Redside and Weber rapids.  Hikes underneath Waterfall Creek and up to Veil Falls are highlights for many of our guests on this day.  We will also visit Earl Parrots cabin, who was a hermit that lived in the canyon many years and we’ll tell you all about his wild story.

Day 3

We then hit some of the biggest rapids of the trip, including Rubber and Cramer Creek Rapids, which is a great whitewater crescendo finale for the weekend. We arrive at the take-out point at Cache Bar around 10am and have a lunch brought in the for the drive to Salmon. You will also fly from Salmon to Boise at around 1-2pm , arriving by 2-3pm for flights home after 6pm.

DATES and PRICING (please visit MFRE website for dates, current pricing & availability)

What’s Included

♦ ground transportation by school bus from the take-out at Cache Bar to Salmon on Day 3.

♦ meals from lunch Day 1 to lunch Day 3.

♦ expert leadership with seasoned professional river guides who are Wilderness First Aid and Swiftwater Rescue certified.

♦ spash gear tops and bottoms, farmer john wetsuits, and waterproof socks and gloves.

♦ 2 dry bags: one for camp clothing and sleeping bag, and one small dry bag for items to have access to during the day like sunscreen, rain gear, camera etc.

♦ all rafting equipment (life jackets, helmets, paddles etc.)

♦ all camping equipment (tents, chairs, gourmet food)

♦ all water craft including oar boats, paddle rafts

♦ MFRE mug to use and take home after trip.

What’s Not?

Flights to/from Boise, Idaho; Motel in Boise for night before the trip and night the trip ends; flight into Flying B Ranch on Day 1 and Salmon/Boise Day 3 (~$400/person); travel insurance (we strongly recommend); optional tipping to guides (10-15%+ of trip cost) depending on level of satisfaction.

Payments

Deposit: $500.00 per person, required for confirmed reservation.

Balance: Due 60 days before the trip.

Cancellation Policy

Deposits are refundable (less $150.00 service charge per person) if written notice is received before Final Payment. After final payment your monies are nonrefundable. If Middle Fork River Expeditions must cancel a trip due to water levels, weather conditions, wildfires or any other circumstances, your trip will be refunded or re-scheduled for the same date the next summer.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Expert Leaders

Middle Fork River Expeditions attracts gifted guides for whom leading trips is their passion. Middle Fork River Expeditions guides positively elevate your experience by being educators, companions, and the best of friends. Most MFRE guides have 10 or more years experience as guides, all are First Aid and Swiftwater Rescue Certified, and are licensed by the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Licensing Board.

Rapids

Middle Fork rapids are rated 1 to 4+ in June on a scale of 1 to 6. In our state-of-the-art whitewater rafts, you’ll run 100+ rapids with the aid of experienced, professional, licensed guides. River Requirements:  Minimum age is 16 in April and May. Please note, all participants must be able to swim and be in good physical shape.

River Craft Options

MFRE provides paddle rafts only on this trip so all guests must paddle.

Hiking

There is plenty of time and numerous opportunities to hike during your trip. All hikes during the day can be done in your river shoes and not hiking boots. Time and logistics permitting we hike to waterfalls, scenic grottos, native Shoshone Sheepeater pictographs, or historic hermit cabins in a given day.

Drinks

We offer drinking water at all times as each raft has a water cooler as well as electrolyte crystals during lunch. For evening we provide non-sugary drinks like La Croix. If you like Coke and Diet Coke you can bring some on the trip if you wish. We provide limited (1-2 glasses/person) red and white wine in the evenings. We do not provide beer and you are free to bring some, just make sure beer is in cans only. For those who want more than a couple of glasses of wine at night, you can bring more wine if you wish and glass is ok. Hard liquor can be brought in glass as well.

Weather

Idaho weather can be variable and vigorous especially in April and May. So come prepared cold weather clothing. There is no such thing as bad weather if you bring the right clothing. Synthetics are best for layering and keeping you warm in all weather conditions. Weather during the daytime is 60-70F and evenings 30-50F. The easiest way to think of river trip clothing is having both daytime “river” clothes which are synthetic and dry camp clothes which are cotton and more comfortable. The daytime clothes will be wet and your camp clothes will be dry. Have a back up set for both and you will be very well prepared. Below is our recommended clothing and equipment list. If you bring what’s on the list you will be all set for the trip. 

MFRE Clothing and Equipment List

We Supply

• Splash gear (jacket and pants) for daytime
• 2 Dry Bags (1 for evening gear, 1 small for daytime gear)
• Farmer John wetsuit
• Waterproof socks and gloves
• Life Jacket (Type V)
• Helmets (for inflatable kayaks, paddle raft and stand up paddle board only)
• All water craft
• MFRE coffee mug– a gift for you to take home

You Bring

• Sarong or quick dry towel (good for sun, drying off or changing clothes)
• Water bottle with carabiner
• Personal toiletry items
• Biodegradable soap (no bathing within 100 feet of any water source is allowed)
• Sunscreen lotion and chapstick
• Sunglasses with retainer
• Sun hat (baseball hat ok, but larger full brim better with chin strap is better)
• Bathing suit
• Socks – 4 pair (2 cotton for camp, 2 synthetic for hiking)
• T-shirts – 3 (two cotton for evenings and one synthetic for daytime)
• Long sleeved shirts – 2 (one cotton for evenings and one synthetic SPF sun shirt for daytime)
• Long pants – 1 (jeans for evening)
• Shorts – 2 (one cotton for evenings and one synthetic for daytime)
• Underwear – assorted (cotton for evening and silk/synthetic for daytime)
• Rain jacket (we provide splash gear tops and bottoms for daytime but nice to have a dry rain jacket at camp)
• Medium weight fleece or sweater
• ski hat
• gloves for evening
• 2 pair of synthetic long john top and bottoms, and fleece type pants.
• Shoes – dry shoes for Ranch (lightweight hiking boots or tennis shoes)
• Shoes – river shoes (Tekstra or Keens with toe coverage is best but Teva’s will work too)
• Camera and spare battery
• Headlamp

Optional

• Ziploc bags – handy for small items or to isolate wet articles from rest of gear
• Olay face wipes or other brand for cleaning face
• Shoes- flip flop sandals (for drying out feet at camp)