Snake River Raptor Fest, Big Water Blowout in Riggins and the Grand Ronde River

Steve on the Grand Ronde River last weekend ... 

There are many deluxe camps in the forest along the river. 

Hiking up the mountain behind camp is always rewarding and beautiful. 

Hi all,

The weather has been pretty topsy-turvy lately, with major rainstorms or hail late in the day. But the 10-day forecast for Boise and surrounding areas in the valley looks like summer is coming BIG-TIME! 

Just as we turn the page into June, forecasters are predicting temperatures in the 80s on Saturday, low 90s on Sunday, and mostly 80s through mid-month. Bring on summer!

For my outdoor tip this week, I'm recommending two weekend events and providing some recap notes from our Grand Ronde River trip in Eastern Oregon. 

First, the events ... the Snake River Raptor Fest in Kuna sounds like a lot of fun this year, particularly because of the 25th anniversary of the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, a great location at Indian Creek Winery and live music! I'll be manning a table and signing copies of Cool North Wind, a well-regarded biography of Morley Nelson's life with birds of prey. The event runs from noon to 5 p.m. There will be live birds of prey on display and kids activities as well. Hope to see you there. 

This is what one reviewer had to say about Cool North Wind, "It is truly an amazing book, and a fun, entertaining, and enlightening read!" American Falconry 

BTW, I'll be on a panel at the Idaho Environmental Forum next Wednesday, June 6th, to talk about Morley Nelson as part of a discussion about the 25th anniversary of the designation of the birds of prey area. Former Congressman Larry LaRocco will be on the panel along with Amanda Hoffman, area manager of the birds of prey area for the BLM. The deadline for signing up for this IEF luncheon program is on Monday. 



The first weekend of June also marks the Big Water Blowout in Riggins ... Take a wild ride with a local outfitter or bring your own raft and try your hand at running some big water on the mighty Salmon River. The Salmon River has been flowing in 50,000-60,000 cubic feet per second range in the last week or so after two peaks over 70,000 cfs. Should be cranking in the 65,000 cfs range this weekend! 

A lot of big water whitewater boaters were at the Lochsa River Memorial Day gathering last week, so they'll be tuned up for some more big water fun in Riggins! 

For a lower-key river adventure, I would recommend running the Grand Ronde River right now. We camped on the river for 4 days last week, Thursday-Sunday, and it was a super fun time. The whole canyon is really beautiful right now, chock full of wildflowers and very green! We picked a campsite that ended up having a resident bighorn sheep herd grazing on the opposite mountain from camp. We hung out and watched the wild sheep in the morning during breakfast and also during the cocktail hour in the evening. There were at least 4 baby lambs that were chasing each other around in the rocks and a small group of about 12 sheep ... really precious to watch! 

With fairly high flows in the 9,000 cfs range, the Grand Ronde scoots along at 7-8 mph. That means you can clock a lot of miles fairly quickly, and then make a base camp. The whole section we typically run is only 35 miles in length. So we went down about 20 miles in 3 hours, base camped for 3 days, and then rowed out 15 miles the last morning. 

The put-in for the Grand Ronde is at Minam, northeast of La Grande on Highway 82 (paved road all the way to the put-in; unusual for some rivers), and the takeout is at Powatka Bridge by the Wildcat Creek road. You do drive a gravel road from the takeout to a point near the little town of Wallowa, where you jump back on the highway. Super easy drive in the whole scheme of things to do a stellar river trip. 

The Grand Ronde is great for kids, side-hiking, wildlife-watching, camping and R&R. I highly recommend it! 

- SS

Fun events! Big Water Blowout River Festival; Sheep, Music and Lamb Feed in the Foothills

Now that's one big river hole! (all photos courtesy of the Big Water Blowout)

Swimmer? 

Music this year is by the "Wasteland Kings"

Hi all,

The weekend forecast looks quite dandy with temps in the high 70s in Riggins, the self-avowed whitewater capital of Idaho, and home to a super-fun annual event aptly called the "Big Water Blowout River Festival."

It's all happening on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. in Riggins. Meet at Riggins City Park (on the right, on the north end of town, as you're traveling north). Check out the vid.

A big bonus associated with the Big Water Blowout event is that guided river trips are available for only $30, which is less than half the price of a typical guided half-day float trip. So for those folks who don't have their own river gear, it's a great opportunity to go rafting through some fun rapids with the pros, and then have a blast in the whole party scene that follows the river trip, including live music and a Dutch oven cookoff.

If you're a river nut, you've got to go. If you've always wanted to try whitewater rafting, you've got to go. If you think you're a river god or goddess, show up and see how the river trip and the D.O. cook-off shakes out. Dress up! Get the river attitude cranked up!

Here's how the event is described by the hosts in Riggins:

This is an action packed, family fun event with experienced Outfitters and Guides offering discounted raft trips all day. Come paddle HUGE Rapids, and enjoy the magnificent scenery and wildlife in the second deepest gorge in North America. Get your thrill seeking in, and see all the rafts, catarafts, kayaks, and dories go BIG and ride boat munching waves with names like The Pencil Sharpener, The Pancake Wave, The Big Easy and The Haystack.

The Salmon River is running 25,000 cubic feet per second at Whitebird, so it's up, but not at a death-defying  level (could be 75,000+ in a bigger snowpack year). The Salmon probably has peaked, according to the snowpack/river flow experts, so if you're into running big water, seize the day NOW.
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Sheep move into the Boise Foothills near the Corrals Trail in April. 

Closer to home, there's a cool event going on Saturday at the Foothills Learning Center. It's called "Sheep in the Foothills." It's a family friendly event, great for kids, to learn about the domestic sheep that graze through the Boise Foothills in the spring as they make their way into the high country in the Boise National Forest.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be herding-dog demonstrations, sheep, sheep camps, sheep-shearing, music by Gary and Cindy Braun, a lamb feast for lunch (my favorite!), wool crafts and more.

Because of limited parking at the Foothills Center, transportation is being provided to the event at no charge. Park at Fort Boise Community Center near St. Luke's. Shuttles begin at 10 a.m. and continue every 30 minutes through 1 p.m.

The event is co-sponsored by Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission, Idaho Wool Growers Association, and Boise Parks & Recreation.
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Juicer at 5,000 cfs 

The North Fork Championships are happening again next week, June 6-8, on the world-renowned North Fork of the Payette River, near Banks, Idaho, with an expanded menu of events. Besides the qualifier race on the lower three miles of the North Fork at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 6, and the Elite Race at noon Saturday, June 8th in Jacob's Ladder Rapids, the single-steepest and most challenging drop on the North Fork, there will be a "Boatercross/enduro" race at 5 p.m. Friday, June 7th on S-Turn Rapids near milepost 90 on Idaho 55. Read Roger Phillips column in the Statesman for all of the details. That's a must-see event!

Have fun!
- SS