Deep Snow Spells Long River-Running Season
Rafting and kayaking companies are seeing dollar signs in Idaho’s thick snowpack this year.
News reports speculating on the possibility of a huge runoff are generating calls and early bookings for outfitters. Guided trips on the Payette River are beginning next week, several weeks earlier than in recent years.
Serious kayakers already are finding thrills on rivers scattered throughout the Northwest.
But the larger benefits are likely to come from rafting season that should extend well into the summer.
“We’re trying to get people to book later rather than early,” said Peter Grubb of River Odysseys West (ROW) in Coeur d’Alene.
“Water levels on the big rivers, like the Lower Salmon and the Middle Fork, probably will be better in August than they usually are in July.”
During the drought years of 1986-1992, ROW typically pulled out of the Lochsa River by July 4, he said. “This year we’re booking to July 12 and I’m confident we could run through the month of July if there was enough interest.”
The length of the season on higher-elevation rivers such as the Moyie is likely to be long, but Grubb cautions that the speed of the runoff will make a difference.
“There’s a chance it could come off all at once in May,” he said. “People have to be prepared to back off in that case. We’d be giving rainchecks. Some rivers likely will be too dangerous to run for a short period.” The St. Joe River is safer to run at high flows, allowing ROW to book spring trips more confidently.
But the Lochsa could be off-limits to sane boaters during the runoff peak. “Typically, the peak occurs sometime between May 20 and June 10,” he said. “This year probably won’t be any different, but I suspect the peak will be bigger with more consistent flows before and after. Thrill seekers have become accustomed to scheduling trips on rivers such as the Lochsa to hit peak flows around May 25.
“It’s an extraordinary year for snow,” Grubb said. “On the Lochsa, we’re telling people they’d be smarter to book later in June, when the weather will be better and the water levels won’t be problematic.”
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