Ski Raft-aineering on the Middle Fork
Posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Forrest McCarthy, Exum mountain guide and public lands director for Winter Wildlands Alliance, recently set out with a few wilderness advocates to explore Idaho’s Salmon River country in winter.
The group skied into the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness with their boats on their backs — in this case, lightweight Alpacka rafts. They floated the Marsh Fork to the Middle Fork of the Salmon, in all covering about 75 miles in seven days.
Forrest, who serves on the Teton County Planning Commission, has been pioneering descents with pack rafts for years in Alaska, Wyoming and the desert Southwest. He and his mates usually combine paddling the lightweight (under 5 pounds) rafts with multi-day climbing or hiking excursions for a rugged, hybrid adventure he calls “ski raft-aineering.”
Believe it or not, the logistics and challenges of this trip are a lot easier than deciding the proper zoning for development.
Congratulations! That looked fun..?!