The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is absolutely amazing! I caught myself saying, "I wish I could come back and do this day as a day-trip"... daily.
Every turn in the 100-mile stretch of the Salmon River unveils beautiful geology and landscapes, fun rapids, and great fishing. Next to the Grand Canyon, it is hands-down the most magical stretch of river I have experienced. Two weeks have passed since I returned back to civilization and I still can't stop thinking about the river. It was such a surreal experience in many forms, but I wanted to share my reflection on how this time I was able to experience the Middle Fork in a way that I would never have guessed that I could: on my SUP. To see some of the highlighted rapids from the Middle Fork and read more about the trip itself, check out this excellent blog post by Northwest Rafting Company here. Also, I got the chance to meet and paddle with the founders of Jack's Plastics Welding on this trip- Jack and Lauri. They are amazing and their gear sets the standards on high-performance dry bags and Paco Pads! Seriously. I do not trust any other dry bag on the river. Check them out here. Texas is actually pretty cool....
Westwater Canyon is an amazing stretch of the Colorado River that consists of nine class III+/IV rapids. It can get really gnarly in high water, and I have experienced major scary carnage in rafts at those levels (video evidence here), but during the Fall, it's a super challenging and relatively safe stretch on a SUP.
This year was the third time I have SUP'd Westwater. One of my goals was to be able to clean the entire stretch and SEND IT!! So I reviewed the footage from year's past. Replayed it over and over. Slow motion. Studied it. Wrote down what I would say as my own coach. Oh man, I wanted to clean Westwater Canyon SO DANG BAD. |
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