The Lower South Fork of the Payette River

During our 8-Day kayaking expedition on the Payette River, everyone kayaked over and through the massive, rollercoaster-like wave train rapids. Like I mentioned in my last "blog," the wave trains of the East are nothing compared to the wild West. Sean and Kristin immediately began to push Harry and me out of our comfort zones (in a good way, of course) in order to prepare us for the Lower South Fork of the Payette, which is home of the three class IV rapids--Bronco Billy, Staircase, and Slalom. After a few days of hard work and skill development, Harry and I were ready to take on the raging waters of the South Fork. At the put in both of us had a look of terror plastered on our faces; however, our fear was quite irrational, since both Harry and I were quite ready skill wise for this stretch of white water. The beginning of the South Fork is pretty mellow with a few miles of nice class II and III warm-up rapids so by the time the three of us (Harry, Sean and myself) reached the eddy above Bronco Billy we were all ready to bust down some big water. Bronco Billy is probably my favorite rapid out of the three because of the incredibly huge wave in the middle. No joke, the wave is so huge that I thought I was going to slide backwards rather than go up and over. Bronco Billy is not as technical as the other two class IV rapids; although, I had to paddle my heart out in order stay right-side-up. After Bronco Billy there are a few fun class III rapids--Dog's Leg and Tight & Right--and then the adrenaline rushing fun starts up again with Staircase rapid. There are quite a few staggered holes that kayakers must avoid while paddling down; therefore, we got out of our boats before-hand and scouted the rapid in order to choose the best line. I am not going to lie, my stomach churned as I looked at what I was about to paddle down. Both Harry and I hit the correct line and got down safely with smiles on our faces. Sean turned to Harry and I and asked us if the first two class IV rapids compared to the class IV rapids that we run on the Ocoee River in Tennessee--the response was NO! Truly, nothing in the East can compare to the West. After Staircase, we paddled toward the last rapid, Slalom. For me, Slalom was the most difficult rapid on the stretch, since I went down the entire rapid with an Ariel the Mermaid view. I flipped at the very top of the rapid and therefore spent the rest of the rapid upside-down attempting numerous times to hit my roll. I think I finally rolled back up on the 8th or so try. Good thing I am comfortable upside-down in my boat, because I was not about to swim down that rapid.
Harry and I decided to take on the South Fork once again the very next morning, and I am glad to say that I got to see Slalom rapid from a new perspective--an upright perspective. The second run was amazing; however, our third trip down was even better since we had a third student go with us. Max, the youngest of the five paddlers, got to run an abbreviated version of the South Fork, taking out just above Staircase. He bombed down Bronco Billy with a great big smile on his face, and enjoyed every second of the run.
Overall, the Lower South Fork of the Payette was a experience that I will never forget. I cannot wait to return to Idaho, so I can paddle this incredible stretch some more--three times is just not enough!
-Maggie