As I begin to write this adventure story I fret over how to
write the details that express our experience without too much over
embellishment. This story has it all,
fencing, fighting, romance….wait, that’s from “Princess Bride.” This story has
even more, improvisation, broken vehicles, astounding countryside, Class III
and IV rapids, good food, and wonderful people.
Let us begin.
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| Descent to the mouth of Neon Canyon on the Escalante River |
The story starts in late fall of 2017 in Escalante, Utah. I had just finished a 2 hour cross country
approach to mouth of Neon Canyon with 3 other friends. We were preparing our canyoneering equipment
when all of a sudden I saw some people packrafting down the Escalante
River. I was highly intrigued and
started a conversation on where they had started, and where they were
going. At the end our farewells, I had
already planned an Escalante packrafting trip for the next Memorial Day
weekend. I had it all planned out, leave Thursday
morning, hit Neon and Ringtale canyons, float 35 miles of the Escalante River
and explore the side canyons along the way, and then hike out Coyote Gulch on
Memorial Day. Eight months was going to
be an unbearable wait.
Over the next few months I started studying maps, reading
blogs, and doing my home work to plan to most epic adventure. I then extended the invitation to friends and
KOLIfit members, and 10 people jump on board.
This was going to be a strenuous and physically demanding trip. We would have to carry heavy backpacks
weighing from 40-50lbs; hike over 20 miles across challenging desert terrain
and slot canyons; and paddle over 10 miles each day. This was not an adventure for the faint of
heart, and I wanted to be very clear that whoever committed to this adventure
had to commit to a KOLIfit fitness training program.
Utah experienced a mild 2017/18 winter, especially in
Southern Utah. Every week I would visit
KSL.com and look at the snowpack for the Escalante drainage, and it did not
look good. By the end of March the
snowpack was about 20% of normal. Feelings of despair inundated me over the
next few days as my gut feeling told me that my epic adventure was not going to
happen this year. I started looking for
blogs with reports of the lowest amount of water in the Escalante River and a
favorable paddle experience. I made a
choice that 1.5’ would be our threshold. Not being optimistic that the river
would reach that high, I developed plans “B” and “C.”
The month of April did not improve the snowpack, and by the beginning
of May the Escalante River was fluctuating between 1-1.2 feet of water. It was time to make the decision to go with
plan “B” and run the Bruneau River in Southwestern Idaho.
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| The beginning of the gorge on the Bruneau River |
The Bruneau River is a tributary of the Snake River,
receiving its flow from the Jarbridge Mountains in northern Nevada and running
north to its confluence almost halfway between Twin Falls and Boise. We would be paddling a deep canyon gorge over
40 miles in 2 days, with 1000’ towering walls on each side of the river. The river walls would be the perfect setting
for a fantasy movie with its chossy brittle rock and eerie grottos and caves
where goblins and gules could hide during the day planning their hunt on
innocent river runners.
I started doing my homework on the Bruneau River rapids.(Click here to view Boneyard Rapid) The river is narrow and choked with several
Class III and IV rapids at 1000cfs and above.
Our group had dwindled down to 4 people including myself, but we would
be joining 10 others with prior experience on the Bruneau. As I spoke with Spence, our 71 year group leader, about the rapids I developed feelings of apprehension about
taking people down a river without any personal prior experience. Class III and IV rapids demand respect, and
if anything were to happen it would be challenging to obtain help due to the
remoteness of the area. I struggled many
hours wondering if I was making the right decision to join this group of people
I did not know. I had to trust their
judgment, which was difficult for me, because from my perspective there was a lackadaisical
approach to running difficult rivers. But
as I continued to read and watch videos on the Bruneau rapids it confirmed what
Spence had said, that the best way to scout the river is to “read and run.”
Scouting rapids is an essential skill to managing your risk
on challenging rivers. To scout a rapid
you exit the river just before the rapid and assess the best route for avoiding,
holes, snags, rocks, and other obstacles that could jeopardize your
safety. The “read and run” technique is
used when it is difficult to scout from the shoreline, or when you have a prior
knowledge of a rapid. To read and run a
rapid you quickly look downstream from your boat and assess the safest route. I am comfortable with the read and run
technique, for an experienced paddler this adds to the element of fun. There are quick instinctual decision made in
a matter of moments that bring a great satisfy feeling. But when you are the only paddler with
extensive whitewater experience with a “rookie” crew, I was uneasy about
reading a river and making quick decisions, and then relaying that information
verbally, as opposed to reacting instinctually, and then relying upon my crew
to react with precision to avoid harmful obstacles. (Click here to view Class IV rapid)
To prepare my rookie crew, I requested that we do a training
run down a Class II section of the Weber River 2 weeks prior to our trip in the
same boat we would be paddling down the Bruneau River. My apprehension shifted to feelings of
confidence as Ryan and Syndi quickly synchronized with may paddling
commands. At this point I made the
decision that we were a 100% go for the Bruneau trip and if we did not feel
confident that we could run a rapid that we would portage it. That never happened.
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| Old Mining Truck near deserted Jasper mine |
Friday Noon: Text from Syndi, “we are running a little
late.” My philosophy on a river trip is
that there is no time schedule. You wake
up when you want to, you get to your
destination when you want to, you eat when you are hungry, and you go to sleep
when you are tired. River life is the
epitome of relaxation and leaving your cares behind. This trip had a few exceptions.
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| Bruneau River put in |
nstead of thin therma-rest pads and
Friday 5pm: River camping group leaves for the 70 miles of dirt
roads to the put in. Driving to the
Bruneau River is an adventure itself. It
requires a durable vehicle, good
navigation skills, and patience as you drive over miles of baby head sized lava
rocks. It is my understanding that this
region of Idaho was one of the prehistoric lava flows of the supervalcano in
Yellowstone National Park. As far as you
can see in any direction there are rolling hills of lava rock. Roads that are built on lava rock are not
super highways. The overall average
speed for the next 3.5 hours was 20mph.
In fact, for the last 6 miles it was faster to travel by foot than by
vehicle. And the last 2 miles requires a
good competent driver down a steep narrow, rock infested road. We all opted to walk down the road to help
navigate over rocks and steer clear of the vehicle grave yard at the bottom of
the ravine.
Friday 9pm: River life began with our arrival at the put in.
It was a clear beautiful night with a ¾ moon drowning out most of the celestial
stars. The waterfalls from the natural
hot springs, a few hundred yards to the South, were a refreshing steam bath. We
explored the area for natural pools to soak in, but they were extremely shallow
and very hot. There was a makeshift hot
tub with room for one if you were the early bird. At
camp, Spence played on his harmonica, danced the Irish Jig, and recited poetry. There is not a dull moment with Spence as the
head of river entertainment. He has
an infectious energy, and I dare you to catch him without a smile, even when
things are awry.
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| Bruneau River Country |
Friday 11pm: As we
retired for the evening we reviewed tomorrows plan to meet the rest of the
group at 8am, put on the river around 10am, explore Cave Canyon, and float
20 miles to our camp. I have to laugh that we even put a time schedule on our river trip because we never stick to it. We are on the river, who cares what time it is.
Saturday 12am: Still
awake because of my idea of a sleeping in a Lamzac as a sleeping pad did not
work. It only holds air for about an hour before you feel the hard ground. Good
thing the constant white noise of the river distracted my disgust and I finally
drifted off to sleep.
Saturday 7am: We ate breakfast and started rigging the 2 of the 3 rafts. Rigging a raft is a mastery skill. Every boat captain has their own style for stowing gear. For most it is prioritized on what you need to access quickly. Generally Bluetooth speakers, Oreo Cookies, and beverages (this was a non alcoholic group) are stored for quick access, while tooth brushes, pots and pans, and trip itineraries are buried deep in the bottom of dry boxes. We finished rigging our rafts around 8am and started looking to the horizon waiting for the rest of our group.
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| Nap time |
Saturday 1pm: At last, it was time to launch. Boat number 3 was rigged and everyone was
ready to go. Just as we were ready to
launch one of the shuttle drivers who had left about 30 minutes ago, trying to
avoid a heavy thunder storm and to take our vehicles to the take out over 80
miles away, came running down the road to inform us that the old Dodge truck
had broken down a 1/3 of the way up the steep rocky road. Immediately the 71
year old Spence, and his 2 grandsons, ran up the hill to see if they could find
a resolution to the broken down truck. A
couple hours passed by as we continue to stretch our downtime activities, when Spence
came running back to inform us that he needed everyone’s help to push the truck
back down the steep rocky road. Unfortunately, the truck lost all power due to fluid
loss and was dead in its track. 2
vehicles were trapped behind and another, on its way to the river put in, was
trapped in front. There was no
possibility of towing the vehicle up the hill.
The only choice was through man and truck power to carefully coast the old
truck backwards down to the bottom so that the other vehicles could pass. As we carefully reached the bottom an hour
later, Spence pulled out his harmonica and “Pied Pipered” everyone with a tune
as we followed him back to the boat launch without a care of what we were going
to do with the truck. “That will be
figured out after we are done with the river trip,” he said with a smile on his
face.
Saturday 4:30pm: At last, it was time to launch. The initial plan was to run 20 miles on Saturday and then 20 miles on Sunday making it possible to get home late Sunday afternoon. But with only 4 hours of day light left we took the rangers suggestion and camped at a beautiful location about 11 miles downriver. My river anxiety dissipated as we ran several Class III rapids without any problems.
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| Pushing the truck back to the put in. If you could only see Spence's smile through the windshield. |
Saturday 4:30pm: At last, it was time to launch. The initial plan was to run 20 miles on Saturday and then 20 miles on Sunday making it possible to get home late Sunday afternoon. But with only 4 hours of day light left we took the rangers suggestion and camped at a beautiful location about 11 miles downriver. My river anxiety dissipated as we ran several Class III rapids without any problems.
Enrichment: I heard a
person ask Syndi and Ryan if they were uneasy with all the chaos. I do not remember their response, but I
remember the person replying back with, “this kind of stuff happens all the
time on river trips, and we are just used to it.” Implying a “no worries”
attitude. That conversation caused me to
reflect on a quote I copied from the
movie “Martian” where the character Mark Watney, who was stranded on Mars for
over a year, states to a fresh group
of cadets after his rescue “At some point, everything's gonna go south on
you and you're going to say, this is it. This is how I end (or how I am going
to quit). Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That's all it
is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem and you solve the
next one, and then the next. And if you solve enough problems, you get to come
home (or accomplish your challenge).” I have applied this philosophy to my
adventure outings, especially adventure racing. Adventures offer the
opportunity to face difficult tasks as challenges that need to be mastered
rather than experiences to be avoided. We
strive so much to be comfortable in life thinking this will enrich our life,
but from my observation this is not so. Meaningful life enrichment comes from hard work to accomplish a goal or challenge. I stated that river life is the epitome of
relaxation, with an asterisk, after you accomplish all the hard things to get
to that relaxation point. I love rigging
a boat, making decision on how to run a rapid, and even problem solving the
best way to get your truck off the mountain.
All the hard work and chaos created an amazing story that will never be
matched by a virtual experience.
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| Ascent to the caves |
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| Enjoying the view and avoiding poison ivy |
Now my mind shifts to next year as I have to wait another 12
months before my “Epic Adventure.”
