The Best Vacation of My Life

I had the best vacation of my life this past July I was invited on the Middle Fork of the Salmon by my good friends Boyce and Ann Greer. The trip was organized by Canyons Inc. a commercial outfitter out of McCall, Idaho and I must say if you have never been on a commercial rafting/adventure trip you must go. The package includes all of the logisticts, food, beverage and knowledge that only a seasoned group of professionals can provide.
I wanted to be the first person to challenge the Middle Fork on a hybrid SUP/SOT and to see just how well it/I would handle the rapids. The Middle Fork has been called the Grand Canyon of Idaho for its shear beauty, remoteness and contineous class III-IV whitewater. The plan was to sit and paddle kayak style for the upper part as its tight and pushy and to stand once the volume increased and the river got a little wider.




Sitting kayak style for the first 21 miles had its challenges but proved to be good to go. The first thing I had to get familer with was not being attached to the Versa. I used a Deluxe DVC seat that worked incredibly well and gave me a little more purchase to the board.


Dodging a huge hole... The Versa was solid as a kayak now its time to check out standing.

At mile 21 the river starts to get wider but the class II-II-IV keeps on coming. I wore a dry suit as I expected to take a few (which ended up being a little more than a few) spills into the cold Idaho water. The one thing that is different standing is that the board has to fit the water and was constantly moving and floating up and over waves and small holes. The constant tweaking of balance was never ending... even in class II.

Standing tall looking down stream .... this was an incredible day 28 miles of class II-III-IV
I have never been so tired in my life but man did I have fun.
That is not junk in my trunk.... promise.

The volume picks up quite a bit from the put-in... here the river is running +6000 cfs.

The final day of the trip I had had enough and opted to sit out. Volume had increase to over 7500cfs and we were on a strict time schedule... thats my story and I'm sticking with it.... Woody

Total miles : 96

Total sitting: 21

Total standing: 62

Total raft:13

The Versa board worked great. I had the time of my life and it marked a couple of first for me personally. It was a first for me and the Middle Fork for a stand up board, it was the first "family" vacation I have ever been on (new family) but that is an entirely different story and it was a first for Kim (gf) to be with someone that is beating themselves up and having fun doing it.