Our family was lucky enough to spend three days rafting the Snake River through Hells Canyon.  It is North America’s deepest river gorge at 7,993 feet.  Yes, that is deeper than the Grand Canyon.  It’s beauty is undeniable.   I found myself looking up with my mouth dropped open for much of our time on the river.

The 3 day trip through class 4 rapids and over 30 miles of river was a guided by experts from Mountain River Outfitters.  MRO gets 5 stars in every category.  Simply top notch.  We were joined by two other families-for a total of 6 adults and 6 kids ranging in age from 6 to 10.  [An extremely kind German couple booked the trip at the last minute and were a great addition to our group.  Lucky them, right?]  Just prior to our trip I was nervous about taking my young boys, especially my 46 pound little man.  Once we were through our first set of rapids, I knew I had worried for nothing and purely enjoyed the rest of our time on the river.

We arrived in Riggins, ID [population 424] the day before our trip.  After a sleepless night {for me} and an early wake up, we left the hotel at 6am. We had a four-hour drive [in a large passenger van] to the launch point just below Hells Canyon Dam.  The weather was amazing-hot and sunny!  Armed with sunscreen, a camera, our dry bags and courage…we pushed off.

We witnessed a ton of white water, paddling and adrenalin!  Right away.

Our guides took exceptionally great care of us all day.  We were treated to gourmet meals, time to hike and explore, camp ready and waiting for us, and tons and tons of fishing!  The boys spent hours upon hours catching and releasing small mouth bass.  The guides set the bait and we reeled in a 7 foot white sturgeon long after dark.  Seeing it lit, only by headlamps and flashlights, was quite extraordinary!

There was lots of slow floating and time to play on the river.  Floating the current, kayaking, paddle boarding or just laughing with friends!

In the end, 3 days of uninterrupted time with my family surrounded by natural beauty was so much more than I could have ever imagined.

If you are the least bit adventurous [or even if you aren’t], put rafting the Snake River through Hells Canyon on your bucket list.

Tags: life with boys, travel

This entry was posted on Monday, August 19th, 2013 at 6:00 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.