River Poem

THE RIVER

the river to me will always mean freedom
a selfless gift the earth shares to travel

the wild, perfect places where life connects
where we can feel the rhythm of ages

its energy spills into the scent of an evening breeze
and it creeps into your bones. And we want more.

To feel the ground pulse
to hear the river sing

Strip me down to the beauty
immerse me in sunlight

the eagles screams are holy and the orchestra of crickets bliss
the water slides by easily and consoles

it’s not intimidating and it doesn’t judge
the river is truth and hope and love

all that is wildly beautiful and
all that is perfectly serene

the release that comes is basic and real
the element is pure and complex

out there my blood runs warm and 
murmurs secrets that feel like home

Free to me is the peace of my soul
the sound of my heart

We can’t give it to each other but we show each other the way
for that is the only way to be free.

Amy Tonsmeire

Gauley Fest 2009

I recently went out to Gauley Fest in West Virginia.  Gauley Fest is the largest whitewater festival in the world.  I figured that a festival like that I should probably check out.  I had a WRO booth at the festival where I was giving out information and free stuff.  Thanks to everyone for stopping by and visiting.  I walked down to the Gauley before the festival started to watch some people run through one of the major rapids, Pillow Rock.  I had never seen anything close to what I witnessed at the river that day.  So many people!!!  People running the rapid at the same time, crashing into each other, people swimming everywhere, boats flipping, people on pool toys, every kind of water craft you could imagine, people in costumes, people jumping into the rapids, complete chaos.  I took many photos which was pretty fun, trying to document the chaos.  This was my first white-water experience on the east coast.  I am sure that it is not this crazy all the time, but people were saying that there is always a line of boats running down the Gauley on the weekends.  I was not able to get my kayak out for the festival, so I did not get to run the Gauley unfortunately.  I did meet some nice folks that let me jump on the New River with them the last day I was in West Virginia.  I did witness the Gauley and know that next year I have to come out with my kayak.  It was fun to witness the festivities, but I must say I am glad I live where the rivers aren't so chaotic with people.

After the Gauley Fest I drove down to North Caroline, where I flew into.  There I went to the U.S. Whitewater Center in Charlotte.  This was another new experience.  They had many kayaks to demo which was nice, since I had no kayak.  Here at the Whitewater Center people have created a circle river.  They pump the water back to the top of the concrete river bed.  The people paddle over to a conveyer belt that brings them back to the top.  You don't ever get out of your boat, you paddle right on to the conveyer and it pulls you on.  From the top there were three different channels you could choose from, some easy and one was actually kind of challenging.  From my understanding this center is where the Olympic trials are held, and many people train here.  Overall this was a fun place to spend an afternoon.  They also had rock climbing, zip lines, and mountain biking.  The Center was an outdoor fun zone in the middle of a large metropolitan area.  If your ever in Charlotte, I recommend checking this place out.

Now I am back in Idaho and Fall is definitely here.  Well I hope you enjoy some of the photos.

Seth Tonsmeire

Flickr Gallery

I have posted some of my better photos from Alaska and Canada on Flickr.  It should be easy to look at the photos of these great adventures.  More trips will have pictures posted in the future.  For now it I have just posted Alsek and Tatshenshini pictures.  Hope you enjoy. 

Alsek River (July 12th - July 23rd)

Tatshenshini River (July 30th - Aug. 9th)

 Seth

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 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 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 River Side 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