Big water means bigger thrills

LEWISTON – Thrill seekers came to see the Salmon River in the springtime, to drink in the canyon’s rich history, for the wildlife viewing and the camaraderie.

But they also came for big water.

Rafting the Salmon River in June, when Idaho’s mountains are shedding snowpack and all that water is squeezing through ancient canyons, is a wild ride.

There is so much water that some of the river’s best known rapids disappear beneath the high flows. But one that is dormant during the summer comes into full bloom.

“I’ve been through the Slide probably 25 times and never seen it,” said Bart Rayniak of Otis Orchards. “And all of a sudden we come (around the corner) yesterday and it’s like, ‘Oh, wow.’ “

The Slide, on the river’s lower end, is considered one of the biggest runnable rapids in the Lower 48 states.

For most of the year, it’s nothing more than a ripple.

But during high flows, it comes alive.

Its power can swallow boats and even delay salmon runs. Most outfitters and private rafters avoid the lower Salmon when flows exceed 20,000 cubic feet per second.

Jon and Jacques Barker are among the few exceptions.

They use 33-foot-long rafts bolstered with extra pontoons strapped to the side and powered by 30-horsepower engines rather than oars to match the Slide’s fury.

“It’s really safe in these boats,” Jon Barker of Barker River Expeditions said. “But really strong, big hits. I mean, we hit really hard, with waves over the top of your head.

“And it’s nice to do that when you feel that as long as you’ve got the strapping and everybody’s holding on, it’s going to be safe. You’re just inundated in a giant catcher’s mitt of water but you know, it’s gonna be all right.”

Rayniak, an experienced rafter and former Spokesman-Review photographer, was awed by it. They ran it at 41,500 cfs.

“It was real rowdy, real violent,” he said. “It’s not a classic run by any stretch of the imagination.”

Like many of the guests on this trip, he jumped at the chance to experience not only the Slide but a giant swath of the Salmon during high flows.

“Seeing it at this water level met my expectations. That’s what I wanted to do. I mean, I’ve never run the Slide. Never seen it,” Rayniak said. “But I think the rest of the trip was probably better just because of getting to see it at another water level.

“And then these guys are really good. There’s a lot of knowledge. So yeah, it was really fun.”

Jon Barker organized the six-day, 261-mile trip that started at Spring Creek downstream of the town of Salmon, Idaho, and proceeded through the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area, to the lower Salmon upstream of Riggins, on to its mouth in Hells Canyon and eventually to the Asotin Boat Ramp on the lower Snake River.

It was a collaboration of multiple outfitters including Jacques, who owns Barker River Trips and runs between Spring Bar and Hammer Creek; Idaho River Adventures, owned by Dustin Aherin of Lewiston, who runs trips on the Main Salmon River; and Kookaburra Rafting that operates on the Salmon River upstream of Corn Creek.

Each contributed their expertise and permits for relevant river sections.

“It was cool to be able to start where we started and come down as far as we came in six days. The long stretches weren’t, you know, brutal from paddling, rowing,” Erica Pecorale from New York said.

It wasn’t just about big water. There were hikes, lessons in human and natural history and wildlife viewing.

Guests saw deer, elk, bighorn sheep, otters, eagles and a bear.

“These guys are so incredible about the history of the canyon and they pointed out stuff and showed us stuff. I learned so much from this trip,” Stina Stringer of Bow, Washington, said.

“Basically, this trip was like six trips. If they would have done this normally, it would have been like six different trips in 16 days.”

Jon Barker said the spring trip, which he has wanted to organize for more than two decades, gives people a different perspective. It’s one he hopes to be able to repeat every three or four years.

The river was flowing at about 9,000 cfs at the start of the trip and the hills were covered in timber.

“It’s stunning to see the river grow and hundreds of side streams come tumbling in,” he said.

As they moved from east to west across the wilderness of central Idaho and through different vegetative zones, the look and feel of the canyon changed. The lower section is more arid. The steep breaks are mostly grassy.

“We did a lot of distance and got to see a lot of good scenery,” Lesa Perrenoud of Rexburg, Idaho, said.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273.

Editors Note: Eric Barker is not related to Jon and Jacques Barker.