Rafting The Snake River

Above, yours truly rafting the Snake River in 2019. Photo by Floatographs.

If Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are in your summer vacation itinerary this year, you may want to make a visit to nearby Jackson Hole, Wyoming to take a rafting trip on the Snake River.

I did this in 2019 and had a great time. I went with Dave Hansen Whitewater. We were staying at the then-Snake River KOA and were picked up by the rafting company from the campground. Amazingly, I did this a year after I had a heart attack. 

Above, a gift shop in Jackson, Wyoming. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It was about a three hour rafting trip and about eight miles in length on the Snake River. 

The staff were friendly and professional and took care of their guests very well. 

Besides taking a rafting trip, wandering around the town of Jackson is also a great activity with plenty of shops to explore. 

10 Hot Weather RV Tips To Stay Cool This Summer

Above, at camp near the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I am only weeks away from taking a vacation trip up to Wyoming and South Dakota. Currently, the temperatures in Jamestown, New Mexico have been in the 90s, sometimes touching on 100°.

Summer means RV travel and some travelers will going into places that are in warmer climates. RV Life has posted an article with 10 hot weather RV tips to stay cool in the summer.

They begin it with:

Summer’s warm temperatures are perfect for RV camping and a lot of other fun outdoor activities. After all, many RVers spent winter and spring eagerly anticipating the heat of summer. However, in the case of scorching summer temperatures, too much of a good thing can be no good at all. That said, sweltering temperatures aren’t just uncomfortable, they can be hazardous. Not to worry though, because I’ve gathered 10 hot-weather RV tips that experienced RVers use to keep things cool in the RV when temperatures soar.

One tip they didn't mention is to indulge in some sort of water sport while at camp. A few years ago, I did some river rafting near Jackson, Wyoming. Besides being a lot of fun, I also was kept cool.

Above, rafting on the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming. 

To read more, go here. 

Colorado River Rafting Looks Promising

Above, yours truly rafting the Snake River in 2019.

The last time I went river rafting was in 2019 in Jackson, Wyoming on the Snake River. It was an enjoyable rafting trip and remarkable as it was a year after my heart attack in Wells, Nevada.

I went with the Dave Hansen Whitewater Adventures.

This year, rafting may be on the agenda in neighboring Colorado. The Animas River near Durango is a possibility. I rafted on the Animas River out of Durango twice, but those trips were during the 1980s.

This year, Colorado river conditions look promising, especially in the northern part of the state.

According to VailDaily:

Early indications suggest Colorado could have a very good rafting season through spring and into the summer, especially in the northern half of the state.

Predicting seasonal rafting conditions is difficult because factors besides snowpack depths always come into play, such as temperature trends, which affect the rate of runoff, as well as the amount and timing of monsoon moisture in the summer. At the moment, though, things look promising.

To read more, go here. 

Pay To Play On Snake River?

Above, the raft trip I took on the Snake River in 2019.

Five years ago, while in the Jackson, Wyoming area, I took a raft trip down the Snake River south of Jackson. I had an excellent time and was pleased I was able to do so a year after a near-heart attack in Wells, Nevada. My cardiologist was also pleased when I told him about the trip.

Now, it seems that the Snake River is so popular that fees are being considered for people who partake in float trips. In other words, pay to play.

Above, another photo of our raft trip on the Snake River in 2019.

Jackson Hole Community Radio (KHOL) reported:

The Upper Snake River south of Jackson could become the first river in Wyoming to require a fee for access.

The Bridger-Teton National Forest held a meeting last week in Jackson for the proposed fees to give the public another chance to weigh in. If the program goes into place, floaters would need to pay to access the stretch between the mouth of the Hoback River to just upstream of the Alpine Junction.

David Cernicek, with the Bridger-Teton National Forest, said the fees are necessary to manage the river due to increased recreational use.

“Our funding is very limited on the river,” Cernicek said. “And we’re not really able to afford the river anymore. Our expenses exceed our costs in providing what we do down in Snake River Canyon.”

The national forest says the river can see over 200,000 people every season, and the fees are needed for maintaining and improving infrastructure like boat ramps, bathrooms and parking areas, among other needs.

The forest would charge $5 per vehicle per day and $3 per person for outfitters and larger groups over 15. Floaters could also choose to buy a season pass for $40, or get a discount for buying two season passes at the same time.

To read more, go here. 

Snake River Cabins and RV Village

Above, the main office building when it was a KOA. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This morning, I received an email from Snake River Cabins & RV Village.

It was the first time I've heard of this place. But looking at their website photos, it did look awfully familiar.

It was the Snake River KOA. Mitch Geriminsky and I stayed there in 2019 while we were in the Jackson Hole/Grand Teton National Park area.

Above, the campsite in 2019. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Doing a little more digging, I found this June 2021 article in the Jackson Hole News and Guide (a snippet):

More than 20 RV parks used to be scattered around Jackson but in recent years the number has dwindled to a handful.

Blame the changing nature of the American vacation, and also the soaring value of land in the Hole, says Bud Chatham.

But Chatham is bucking the trend, opening a new RV park this week. It’s 30 miles from Jackson but it’s going to fill a need for people who can’t find a place to park their vacation rig any closer.

Chatham and his wife, Kelly, own the Snake River Cabins and RV Village south of town, a place commonly called Snake River KOA, though it’s ended its KOA association this year. They also own Dave Hansen Whitewater, one of the area’s oldest river ride companies. They’re opening Alpine Valley RV Resort on Highway 89 north of Alpine, next to the new Broulim’s supermarket.

So, they ended its association with KOA Kampgrounds last year. Same owners, though.  

Above, yours truly rafting the Snake River in 2019. Dave Hansen River Trips photo.

It was a nice place, but there were more cabins there than RV campsites, we noticed at the time of our stay. During our stay, I took a whitewater raft trip down the Snake River with Dave Hansen River Trips. According the the park's website and the above article, Dave Hansen River Trips is "under the Chatham family of businesses." I had a good time on the raft trip and would recommend them.

Their website can be accessed here.

"Unplug" At Jackson Hole

Above, a view of Jackson Hole from the Jackson Hole Aerial Tramway. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last summer, a friend and I headed into Jackson Hole, Wyoming for some camping, visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, shopping and whitewater rafting. It is a vacationer's paradise.

KSL.com has listed five reasons to "unplug" at Jackson Hole in a new article.

Above, inside the Jackson Mercantile store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

They begin with:

Long before the west was settled, a place called Jackson’s Hole was little more than a beautiful valley, appreciated only by the fur trappers and traders who made their way through the area. 

Now, Jackson Hole has become a popular destination for people from all walks of life. Flanked by a pair of the world’s most majestic mountain ranges, Jackson Hole is a place unlike any other and is a nostalgic throwback to the American West. 

While an obvious destination for winter adventures, Jackson boasts a variety of equally exciting and fun reasons to visit in the summer; here are five of them.

Above, yours truly rafting the Snake River. Photo by Float-o-Graphics.

To read more, go here. 

Social Distancing On A River Raft

Above, yours truly (right) rafting last summer on the Snake River. Photo by Float-o-Graphs.

Last summer, I did something that I hadn't done since the late 1980s: white water river rafting.

The occasion was when a friend and I went to Jackson, Wyoming for camping and visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. I went with the Dave Hansen Whitewater company for some rafting on Wyoming's Snake River. I had a great time. During the raft trip, we saw two bald eagles.

This year is a little different with social distancing, but the rafting companies are adapting.

According to the Jackson Hole News & Guide:

In any year not as strange and off-putting from the jump as 2020, David Cernicek would see a steady stream of large groups rafting the Snake River in 20-minute intervals during the busiest days of the season. 

That’s not the case this year, and it won’t be. Still, the Bridger-Teton National Forest river manager is overseeing an industry finding ways to paddle through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Coming out of the gate it was, ‘How can we do this?’” he said, “because there were people who believed we couldn’t do it.”

Chief among the limitations on rafting this season is the amount of people who can occupy one craft. This summer the Bridger-Teton is not issuing its traditional group permits for parties of more than 15 people. 

Cernicek said restrictions like that have been managed well on the commercial side by whitewater outfitters. For private parties from outside Wyoming, though, there’s been pushback. 

“There’s a lot of unhappy people, mainly from out of state, that would like to be bringing their usual groups like they do every year,” he said. “It’s very understandable, and they do want to know if commercial outfitters are being restricted as well. 

“The folks that don’t really believe in COVID being a real virus, they seem to be much angrier.” 

Reports of substantially less angry river-users came from Dave Hansen Whitewater and Scenic River Trips’ Bud Chatham. After months of uncertainly about the future of the business in 2020, Chatham said his team is just happy to be back. And the customers, too, are keeping their distancing but in the same boat.

Above, a final photo at the end of the raft trip last summer. Photo by Float-o-Graphs.

To read more, go here. 

Snake River Whitewater Rafting

Back in July, I did some whitewater rafting on the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming with Dave Hanson Whitewater. A separate company handled the photographs of the raft trip.

About a day after the raft trip, I ordered a couple of 5 x 7" prints of the trip, but they never arrived.

Last week, I called up the company and they told me they were mailed a day or so after I ordered them, which was around July 31.

They re-sent the order and it arrived in today's mail.

Here's the prints:

Above, our raft hitting the "Big Kahuna" rapids on the Snake River. Photo by Floatographs.

Above, after we were done with our rafting and before we went ashore. Photo by Floatographs.

More Whitewater Rafting Photos

Here are some more photos from my rafting trip down the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming.

Whitewater!

A little while ago, I did some whitewater river rafting (first time since 1987) down the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming.

It was an eight-mile course with the biggest rapid being the "Big Kahuna" rapids. I was with a family of five along with Erick, the raft guide of Dave Hansen Whitewater Adventures.

It was a lot of fun. Mitch Geriminsky couldn't go as he has a touch of altitude sickness. He's a little better since he got some Boost oxygen canisters.

Along the way, we saw two bald eagles and a deer.

Still, I had a great time. My cardiologist would be happy as I had some good exercise today.