Outdoor Activities lead students on a river rafting trip down the Salmon River, Saturday. The Salmon River flowed at a high of 18,000 CSF for the week as 36 students and faculty floated down the river digging in to fight through heavy rapids, making the trip the semester’s largest.
The guides and faculty did everything they could “to make the trip as safe as possible” for participants, said Joe Temus, trip leader and volunteer for the Outdoor Activities. To ensure safety the group utilized a two man inflatable ducky, and a two-person river catamaran to float alongside the 4 larger rafts ready to provide care for any mishaps.
The water was cold and murky as logs and debris floated down the river, however the weather provided sun on the summer day.
The 3 larger rafts carried the majority of student participants with about 10-12 people each, and were guided by student volunteers Lauren Perry, Susan Briggs, and Joe Temus, all certified to guide white water rafts. Faculty advisers Morris Christensen and Scott Hurst headed up an 8 man raft and the river catamaran, and Lydia Montour managed the 2-man ducky.
The trip left from the Outdoor Resource Center at 6 pm on Saturday, 25 June, after the students checked onto the trip using their I-cards and and signed a risk waivier acknowledging the potentially fatal risks of white-water rafting, and a short briefing. The group then drove 4 vans across 3 hours of highland plains and the Lemhi River Valley and turned north at Salmon, driving another 30 miles to their put in.
Students gathered their gear and prepared themselves as faculty and volunteers shuttled the vans to the end of the stretch.
“the most stressful part of the trip was the river, which is the way it should be, and it was big and it was fun, everyone was just so happy and stoked it seemed, the water was big, the waves weer ebig and it just kept on copming at you,” said Temus.
Student participants have filled up each of the white water trips this semester.
“We had lots more girl than guy participants,” Hurst noted because, “girls aren’t video game addicts for one, that might be one reason.”
For the future the Outdoor Activities plans to offer expanded trips during the off times, and provide more leadership opportunities to help students to grow. White water rafting on the snake river, star-gazing, and Road Biking every Wednesday came recommended as end of semester activities from volunteers and faculty.
The guides and faculty did everything they could “to make the trip as safe as possible” for participants, said Joe Temus, trip leader and volunteer for the Outdoor Activities. To ensure safety the group utilized a two man inflatable ducky, and a two-person river catamaran to float alongside the 4 larger rafts ready to provide care for any mishaps.
The water was cold and murky as logs and debris floated down the river, however the weather provided sun on the summer day.
The 3 larger rafts carried the majority of student participants with about 10-12 people each, and were guided by student volunteers Lauren Perry, Susan Briggs, and Joe Temus, all certified to guide white water rafts. Faculty advisers Morris Christensen and Scott Hurst headed up an 8 man raft and the river catamaran, and Lydia Montour managed the 2-man ducky.
The trip left from the Outdoor Resource Center at 6 pm on Saturday, 25 June, after the students checked onto the trip using their I-cards and and signed a risk waivier acknowledging the potentially fatal risks of white-water rafting, and a short briefing. The group then drove 4 vans across 3 hours of highland plains and the Lemhi River Valley and turned north at Salmon, driving another 30 miles to their put in.
Students gathered their gear and prepared themselves as faculty and volunteers shuttled the vans to the end of the stretch.
“the most stressful part of the trip was the river, which is the way it should be, and it was big and it was fun, everyone was just so happy and stoked it seemed, the water was big, the waves weer ebig and it just kept on copming at you,” said Temus.
Student participants have filled up each of the white water trips this semester.
“We had lots more girl than guy participants,” Hurst noted because, “girls aren’t video game addicts for one, that might be one reason.”
For the future the Outdoor Activities plans to offer expanded trips during the off times, and provide more leadership opportunities to help students to grow. White water rafting on the snake river, star-gazing, and Road Biking every Wednesday came recommended as end of semester activities from volunteers and faculty.
Comments from my roommate Joe: "This has been a great year for rafting, there's a huge snowpack up in the mountains and the rivers have been running longer and bigger than usual. Unfortunately this also means flooding for others. Rafting is an activity where if you just rent a boat and hop in the river you can get really hurt, there's a bit of experience and knowledge needed. We're really lucky that the school provides these kinds of activities so that lots of students can safely experience things like whitewater rafting."
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