Guide: Karoline Woodhead

Years spent guiding: 7

Favorite regional river: Salmon River

When you find something you love in the outdoors, it’s a joy to share it with others. Karoline Woodhead started her rafting career at age 17 which gave her a chance to share her love of rivers. “My favorite thing about guiding is introducing people to new, wild places that I care about and watching them fall in love with them,” she says.

Woodhead started out working as a “swamper” on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, helping guides set up camp on multi-day raft trips. She progressed to leading half-day trips on the Payette River just outside of her hometown of Boise, Idaho. She was then drawn to ROW Adventures because of the many rivers that they run, and the relationships that they promote between the guests, guides, and the wilderness they recreate in. This will be her second season with ROW.

Last season, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, guiding brought Woodhead a small sense of normalcy and peace in a difficult year. “River guiding last season was different than normal years, especially knowing that we were coming in contact with guides and guests from all around the country,” she says. Guides adopted extra precautions like mask wearing, cleaning regimens, and social distancing both on and off the river, Woodhead explains. “Even with the changes, I never felt like the experiences or memories of the river were affected.”

This season, Woodhead looks forward to guiding new rivers, taking on new leadership positions, and continuing to hone her skill of gear packing.

Guide: Tom Scarborough

Years spent guiding: 19

Favorite regional river: The Rouge

For Tom Scarborough, whichever river he’s currently rafting is his favorite. This seems a suitable answer for a seasoned river rat.  Following his guide training in 2002, Scarborough has worked as a regular guide, a returning guide leading trips, the manager of the Middle Fork of the Salmon, and is in his 11^th season of managing ROW’s Rouge River outpost.

Scarborough’s favorite thing about guiding river trips is the simple clarity that comes from connecting with nature, both for himself and his guests. “[There’s] the feeling of living at the river’s pace, and being in the moment. I can forget the rest of the world for a little while,” he says. “What goes hand-in-hand with that is the disconnection from the now commonplace connection of email, phone, Internet, and the modern distractions that they create. On a river trip you get to slow down and interact with people the old-fashioned way, face to face.”

That face-to-face interaction was of course a bit different on the river in 2020. Last spring, when the pandemic broke out, Scarborough says everyone was quite nervous, not knowing if the things they were doing to contain the virus would be enough. With the introduction of vaccinations and an increased knowledge about the virus, he is feeling hopeful and better prepared for the 2021 season, though he says he knows it will be important to stay vigilant in the outdoor industry.

“People have seemed very appreciative to have a safer, outdoor vacation to participate in,” says Scarborough of the previous season amongst COVID. “We get to be part of making memories for our guests, and with the in-real-life experiences we take people on being harder to come by, we are helping to ground and connect people a bit more than they have been in a while.”

This season, Scarborough looks forward to building a new crew of river guides and working as a team to bring people those authentic experiences. His favorite part of being a ROW manager is that he gets to teach, mentor, and also participate on the crew trips.

Guide: Kim Cunningham

Years spent guiding: 5

Favorite regional river: St. Joe River

After hearing the story of Kim Cunningham’s first rafting trip, you might not assume she’d end up working as a guide. In November 2016 Cunningham embarked on the Yaak river in Northwest Montana with some friends. She wore mismatched and borrowed cold weather gear and didn’t exactly know what she was in for. As her friends approached a large rapid they planned to portage, they hit a bump and Cunningham flew out of the boat.

“I managed to have my first swim on my very first day of rafting above a big rapid in one of the coldest water temps I have rafted in less than optimal gear, and somehow I still loved it enough to decide to become a river guide,” she says.

Cunningham lives and teaches in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, which puts her at convenient proximity to her favorite river, the St. Joe. She is starting her fifth season with ROW Adventures and has led guided trips all over Idaho. “I love getting to see people experience the river and push themselves to try new things,” she says. “The most challenging thing is managing groups with varying levels of river experience to make sure everyone has fun at their own level and pace.” Last season, there was the extra duty of managing the social dynamics of the trip while maintaining social distance. Kim continued to encourage guests to get to know one another and have fun.

In 2021 she looks forward to traveling more and is eager to grow as a boater and learn the technical rapids of the Middle Fork in her second season on the Salmon River.

Lisa Laughlin is a freelance writer living in Spokane. She enjoys paddleboarding, trail running, and backpacking. She wrote about hiking Beezley Hill in the Nov.-Dec. 2020 issue of Out There.

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For those who wonder what the pioneers might have seen as they traveled the Oregon Trail in the 1840s, take a trip to the Owyhee River in faraway southeastern Oregon.  

And while you’re at it, since you likely drove hundreds of miles, better take the next five days and experience the 50 miles of Owyhee from “see level.” Because why else, other than maybe taking U.S. 95, the scenic “Blue Highway” route to Reno, Tahoe, and maybe Las Vegas, would you venture into the visage of the middle of nowhere? 

That opportunity came my way in the spring of 2019 when I was able to knock the Owyhee off of a river bucket list that officially turned 40 this year. 

But much has to fall into place to experience this river that defines the word “remote.” The Owyhee flows through vast Malheur County with just 3.2 people per each of its nearly 10,000 square miles. By comparison Spokane County has 275 people for each of its 1,800 square miles. 

Enveloping the Owyhee canyon is one of the largest undeveloped tracts of public land left in the lower 48 states—and it shows, particularly on the drive out from Birch Creek. 

The ability to raft the Owyhee and its handful of notable rapids—Whistling Bird, Montgomery, and Rock Dam—requires the fickle weather of the high desert to cooperate.  

Tales of freezing temperatures and winter/spring rafting encased in a drysuit, plus the pure logistics, always had the Owyhee on my list. But retirement opened plenty of options, and our group won with temperatures in the 70s and just a sprinkle of rain after a May 5 launch. 

The best Owyhee opportunities happen when the West’s winter is influenced by an El Niño where the storm track generally dives south into California. Officially, the winter of 2018-19 was “neutral”—neither El Niño or La Niña— same as 2019-20.  

Our trip ran from the Bureau of Land Management boat ramp and campground, just east of the wide spot in U.S. Highway 95 known as Rome, and covered 50 miles to the remote Birch Creek Ranch takeout. Add 10 miles of flat water, with a motor heavily advised, if you take out at Leslie Gulch. 

Upstream from Rome is the dynamic but incredibly difficult middle section of the Owyhee. This 35-mile stretch from remote Three Forks includes Half-Mile and Bombshelter, a pair of Class-4 drops, and arguably the darkest name for a rapid ever—Widowmaker. It’s a Class VI falls that does get run, but is normally portaged. Google it and either option ought to make you cringe. 

The entire Owyhee is full of both geologic and pioneer history.  

From Rome there are still scattered remnants of pioneer homesteads. Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacajawea is buried in the area. The rusted relic of a waterwheel sits along the shore near Birch Creek. 

The Owyhee River and its tributaries flow through the Owyhee Plateau, cutting deep canyons, often with vertical walls and in some places over 1,000 feet deep. Its headwaters are in northern Nevada and the river is 280 miles long. Notable among the many stunning vistas are Lambert Dome in the Chalk Basin—composed of layers of reddish rhyolite and basalt—and Iron Point Canyon with its towering sheer walls. 

Lower Owyhee River Trip Details 

• Rome to Birch Creek or Leslie Gulch Length: 48 or 65 miles 
• Gradient: 15 fpm 
• Difficulty: Class III 
• Season: Spring 
• Rec. Level: 800 – 5,000 cfs 
• Agency: BLM 
• Permits: Self Registration 
• Put-in: Rome 
• Take-out: Birch Creek or Leslie Gulch 
• More info: www.whitewaterguidebook.com  

Originally published as “Owyhee: A River for the Bucket List” in the June 2020 issue.

Paul Delaney has been a whitewater enthusiast since 1980 and has rafted dozens of rivers across the west. He’s a co-founder of the Northwest Whitewater Association Rafting Club and can be reached at spokanerafterguy@comcast.net.

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A literary evening for river and adventure lovers: Wednesday October 17, 7 pm, BookPeople of Moscow, sponsored by Idaho Rivers United. Refreshments and no-host bar. Sunday October 21st, 1 pm, Auntie’s Bookstore, Spokane; Monday October 22nd, Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club, 7 pm.

Outdoor writer and recovering raft guide Jo Deurbrouck has been thinking about rivers much of her life. Come hear what she has to say about wild water, the necessity of adventure, and her new book; and let her transport you onto lovely rivers and big adventures. “Anything Worth Doing” concerns the storyworthy lives of two Idaho raft guides who decide that “anything worth doing is worth overdoing,” and spend ten years trying to prove it on the loveliest rivers in the West, particularly Idaho’s wild Salmon, last long freeflowing whitewater river in the lower 48. The book has won praise from David James Duncan and Pulitzer finalist Kim Barnes, among others. Barnes described the book as “… a true drama whose characters will break your heart with their dreams, courage, vulnerability, and absolute determination to live life on their own terms, no matter the cost.”

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