{"id":5074,"date":"2012-07-17T04:29:34","date_gmt":"2012-07-17T12:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/?p=5074"},"modified":"2012-07-17T04:29:34","modified_gmt":"2012-07-17T12:29:34","slug":"adventure-in-idaho-standup-paddling-the-salmon-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/adventure-in-idaho-standup-paddling-the-salmon-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Adventure in Idaho – Standup Paddling the Salmon River"},"content":{"rendered":"
Salmon River Run on a SUP!<\/p><\/div>\n
I had heard a lot about the Salmon River from some of the crew that I paddled the Colorado River<\/a> with last year.<\/p>\n So about a week into our three month Surf, SUP and Paint Tour<\/a>, I planned a day to SUP the Salmon River.<\/p>\n Maria and the kids and I had been exploring Idaho for about four days before we got to Riggins, a town that calls itself \u201cthe Whitewater Capital of Idaho\u201d.<\/p>\n Right next to Riggins is Lucile, where we set up camp for a few days. Lucile is a one street town where there\u2019s no cell service but plenty of deer, bears and elk. \u00a0Our friend John is building a house there along the Salmon River and said we could camp on his property, though he was out of town traveling as well.<\/p>\n I had everything I needed to standup paddle the river except for one thing:\u00a0 a life jacket. On the drive to Lucile I was telling Maria that we needed to find a place to buy one.\u00a0 Then, a few minutes later, on a desolate road nestled between 10,000 foot peaks, I saw something lying in the middle of the road.\u00a0 It was a brand new lifejacket! I turned the van around and picked it up.\u00a0 Now, I had what I needed to SUP the Salmon:<\/p>\n I put into the river at Shorts Bar.\u00a0 It\u2019s a killer sandy beach where we spent the day trying out our new paddleboards in the river.\u00a0 There\u2019s a nice little eddy there that the kids could paddle around in.<\/p>\n Maria tracked me from the road in the Dream Machine and took pictures from the bank.\u00a0 There are great lookouts at each rapid, so it was easy for her to pull over and get some photos as she watched me surf the rapids.<\/p>\n This time of year the river is running low and the rapids are minor, but enough to give you a good thrill.\u00a0 \u00a0The Riviera Inflatable Standup Paddle board was perfect for this river, since the water was low and there were a lot of sharp rocks that other boards would be damaged by.<\/p>\n The biggest rapid is called Time Zone \u2013 it\u2019s right before the bridge at the far north end of Riggins. Time Zone is a long, snaking rapid with a ledge running down the right side.\u00a0 The current zig zags back and forth, all the way down to the bridge. I stuck that rapid, swinging left to avoid the ledge.\u00a0 I was pretty stoked \u2013 it\u2019s been a year since I\u2019ve run a rapid.<\/p>\n After Time Zone, there were about a dozen smaller rapids with a lot of space in between to rest.<\/p>\n\n