Salt

Relatively new to boating, I finally got to run the entire wilderness section. We ran in self-support duckies around 5,000 cfs. This was a trip where we set out to explore and push our personal limits as class III boaters. The river was big and powerful, off course, but surprisingly forgiving, I thought, based on my day-run experience on the Salt at 2000 or less flows. The hydraulics, boils, and horizontal recirculations in the gorge areas were very tricky and tended to turn unwary kayakers. Scouting the named rapids proved to be invaluable. I did not swim once in my AIRE Outfitter II, and my friends paddling loaded Tomcat I's and an out-of-balanced AIRE Force only swam five times each, with several of those swims being nothing more than unforced errors. They all had great 'IK Rolls,' (self-rescue and recovery on the fly)and were back in there boats and paddling even after getting hammered in the big waves of Black Rock and Corkscrew. Their slim bodies, strength-to-weight ratio, and their physical condition was key. I do not recommend this river at this level to anyone without a roll. Having to chase a swimmer and his boat down the river in the gorge sections would have put a damper on the trip for everyone.

Being in kayaks gave us one advantage over a raft: we were able to scout big rapids much closer, giving us the ability to portage if necessary. Black Rock and The Maze have class III kayak sneaks on the left.

This was an awesome, bucket-list trip for me!