When meeting someone new, there is the inevitable question: What do you do?
Parker and I are very fortunate in that we get to tell people that we own an Idaho Rafting Company, America’s Rafting Company. After relaying that to a new acquaintance, there is often much discussion about what that entails, along with the inevitable question, “Well, what do you do in the winter?”. We have an ever-evolving answer to that question.
I imagine that people can picture us taking exotic vacations, lounging around the house, skiing all day, everyday, etc. The picture that they paint is a very exciting one that I wish was the truth. But, the truth is far from that. We really are very busy in the off-season.
On a typical year, we will start our season in late March with Steelhead Fishing, which then leads into rafting the Owyhee River (it’s an early season, spring run-off river). Then in April/May we will usually visit the Snake River in Hells Canyon for some Idaho Rafting. The canyon is so deep (the deepest in North America) that spring time, warm weather and wildflower blooms come much earlier than they do in other parts of the state.
Once June arrives, we begin our main season, floating through Hells Canyon with the kiddos out of school, things start to pick up quick. In late June, once the spring run-off has slowed a bit on the Salmon River, we can start frequenting it’s white sandy beaches. Throughout June, July, August and early September we run around like crazy from one river canyon to the other. It’s really quite exciting. When October hits we are back at it, with Chukar Hunting and Steelhead fishing through mid-November. At that point, the snow starts to fly and we pack up camp and put all the gear to bed for the winter.
Phew, that’s a long list of activity! It’s definitely enough to keep us busy. We use the winter months: December-March for a little R&R, but it’s mostly filled up with re-organizing for the upcoming season, marketing, updating the price list and the website, lots of blogging, lots of emails and lots of office work in general.
I’m not complaining though, our office is quite cozy, the woodstove is crackling near by and just outside the window, I can see Brundage Mountain Ski Resort and watch the snow fall. Life’s pretty good around here, but with all that snow falling, someone has to keep up on it, that leads me to these photos:
So, our answer to the question about what it is we do in the winter is work, just not the fun kind of work we do in the summer: no rafting, no dutch oven riverside cooking, no huge grocery shopping trips, no sandals, no swimming, no river time… gosh, when you put it that way, winter sounds pretty depressing! I’m glad for the snow and old man winter, but I’m starting to eye the calendar in a different light- I’m counting down until our first Idaho Rafting trip!
See you on the river…
