For the most part, I enjoy rafting with a paddle team on a fairly meaty stretch of whitewater. However, a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a river garnish, sitting on top of a gear pile on the back of a Cataraft and loving every minute of it. I fished Small Mouth Bass quietly off the back, soaking up what little sun my Irish skin could handle and feeling pretty good about taking a few days off works.
A guide I have worked with said it best when
he described the water in Hells Canyon as “heavy”. It certainly has the cfs to make a 16’ craft
feel pretty insignificant on the water. From the Dam to Pittsburg Landing there are
only 2 major rapids, Wild Sheep and Granite. It’s defiantly possible to flip in
these, but the swim looked pretty good and the run out was clean. Other wave
trains and giant eddy lines along the way gave this section good variety. The
Snake is the type of river that can turn even the snobby beer connoisseurs into
happy Keystone Light drinkers. The type of river that, given the opportunity,
authors like Twain and Hemingway would have been pleased to write about. Sometimes a raft trip is not about the
whitewater.
Peace,
Sheena
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