Salmon River 2-Day Intro to Overnight Rafting

Try the inflatable kayak. Hands down this is our best trip in Idaho to learn and get comfortable with the IK. Day 1 is the mellow day where you get your bearings, and Day 2 is the payoff.

Day 1 is the riverside lunch we go all out on, since it is the only one we have to pack, then dinner at camp on the beach. Day 2 is a hot breakfast at camp, and lunch is at the shop around noon when you are off the river. No cold cuts here. Our shop staples are taco salad, chicken Caesar wraps and gyros, hearty and filling with lighter options too.

Coffee is always out well before breakfast. While you relax, the guides pack up shop and load the boats, and we launch between 9 and 10. Healthy snacks are out all day on the water, granola bars, trail mix, fruit snacks, apples and oranges, so you are never going to go hungry on a trip.

When you pull into camp your tent is already set up, your sleeping pad is in it and your dry bags are stacked and waiting. Shade tarps are out, there is always a beach game going, and iced tea and lemonade are ready. A lot of people drag their chair down to the river, sit in it and crack a cold one.

Appetizers come out before dinner. Charcuterie boards, crostini, steamed mussels with toasted pita, bruschetta and artichoke hearts, Dutch oven nachos. Our rule of thumb is to serve dinner right after the sun goes behind the canyon brim, sometimes 6 o'clock and sometimes 8, because no one really has much of an appetite when the sun is shining overhead. The guides plate every meal through the serving line and we all sit down and have supper together. Dessert comes out as it gets dark, cobblers, cakes, a s'mores charcuterie board, or the river staple, pineapple upside down cake. We make a big deal out of the flip. If it comes out perfect, everyone cheers. If it does not, everyone boos.

After dessert about half the group heads to bed and the guides stay up and entertain. Some bring instruments, some tell stories, and there are always cards and the library box full of river books, wildlife books and geology books for the stretch you are on. We will have a campfire if we are able to. Most of the summer, late June to mid-September, we cannot, so s'mores happen over the glowing Dutch oven coals.

There is no meet and greet the night before on this one. Just meet us at 8:00 AM MT at the Orange Torpedo shop, 1512 North Main in Riggins. You meet the guides, fill your dry bags and load the van, and it is about an hour to the put-in, Vinegar Creek or Carey Creek boat ramp depending on flow. Your river orientation happens riverside at the put-in, with a little extra about what to expect when you pull into camp. The trip starts and ends at the shop. We handle all the shuttle logistics and have you back by 3:00 PM MT on Day 2. All of our Idaho trips run on Mountain Time.

This is a 2-day, so pack for two days, not six. Swimsuit, sun shirt, hat, sandals that strap on, a water bottle with a carabiner and sunscreen for the river, and a warm layer and camp clothes for the evening. Bring a sleeping bag, or rent one from us along with a pack pillow. Binoculars, because bird watchers go nuts on Idaho trips. Super-soaker squirt guns for the kids and the kids at heart. A different pair of shoes for camp so you can get your feet dry and the sand out of your toes.