©2016 by Hobo Shoes. Proudly created with Wix.com

TRAVEL STORIES | HOBO SHOES

  • Home

  • Blog

  • Subscribe

  • Contact

  • More

    Archive

    April 2019

    March 2019

    February 2019

    January 2019

    December 2018

    November 2018

    October 2018

    August 2018

    July 2018

    June 2018

    May 2018

    April 2018

    March 2018

    February 2018

    January 2018

    December 2017

    November 2017

    October 2017

    September 2017

    August 2017

    July 2017

    June 2017

    May 2017

    April 2017

    March 2017

    February 2017

    January 2017

    December 2016

    November 2016

    October 2016

    September 2016

    Please reload

    Tags

    Aegean

    Alaska

    Alaska Railroad

    Alsfeld

    Antique Auto

    Aran

    B-17

    Big Pit

    Biggs Field

    Bodrum

    Brecon Beasonc

    Brecon Beasons

    California

    Corn Du

    Cruise

    Del Coronado

    Denali

    Dolly Parton

    El Paso

    Fort Casso

    Gainsville

    Germany

    Greenwich

    Grimm

    Gulet

    Ireland

    Jordan

    Kallmunz

    Karmann Ghia

    Le Hackenberg

    Lodge Resort

    Lyme Regis

    Lyme Regis Museum

    Maginot Line

    Mayfair Chippy

    McKinley

    Pen y Fan

    Queen

    Rosemeyer

    San Diego

    Sandstorm

    The Fossil Workshop

    Trinity

    Turkey

    Tuscany

    VW

    White Sands Missile Range

    Zum Goldenen Löwen

    amtrak

    arizona

    avon & kennett canal

    backaffa

    bell

    berlin

    buffalo soldiers

    charles bridge

    family

    feed mill

    felsenkirche

    ft. leavenworth

    germany

    giant's causeway

    hallstatt

    hopi

    hotel villa rosa

    ireland

    itaewon

    kimchi

    korea

    lava river cave

    lefertovo

    lost palace

    madrid

    mighty eighth

    museum

    narrowboat

    oberstein

    prague

    prime meridian

    restaurant

    russia

    rv

    seoul

    slovenia

    sofia museum

    south korea

    spain

    speed record

    sweden

    thanksgiving

    vasa

    veterans

    whitehall palace

    Please reload

    No U-turns on this river

    October 28, 2018

    |

    By George Ridge

     

       SALMON RIVER, Idaho -- Dick Hauff has navigated Idaho's “River of No Return” a hundred times and obviously returned to tell about it. In fact, he was telling us about it while we lulled along with the current not far above the Big Mallard falls.

     

       Little did we know that our comfortable stream made famous by Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum in a move of the same nickname would soon cascade into dizzying, whitewater space. From there no return would truly rule our travel.

     

       ''In the old days we'd camp just above Big Mallard and spend most of the night worrying,'' recounted Hauff, who retired as Forest Service supervisor of this Idaho wilderness area to return to the Salmon River (the River of No Return) as a raft captain. We were currently at the midpoint of a 79-mile, six-day float through the heart of a wilderness area three times larger than the state of Rhode Island.

     

       At just about the same point where our little expedition first put oars into the river, explorer William Clark in 1805 assessed the watery fury frothing over its granite jaws -- and turned back!  Early in our journey someone asked the team leader what he thought about Clark's opinion. ''I quit reading Clark's journal ... it scared me,'' he quipped. ''Your attitude can change from 'Wa-Hoo!' to 'Uh-Oh!!' in the blink of an eye.''

     

       No roads worthy of the name traverse this wilderness. The mail for scattered ranches and settlers arrives via air, delivered on impossible airstrips sometimes curving at a 90-degree angle. If you decide the going is too rough, this is how you are evacuated.

     

       One of our most unbelievable experiences came when we were invited to jump into the 61-degree roller-coaster swells for 100 or so yards of body-surfing. Exhilaration--briefly interrupted by gasping heights of terror. We even stopped in the outback to put our toes in a hot tub behind a dam that someone had thoughtfully stuck in the middle of a hot spring. Hauff says the Forest Service turns a blind eye because it’s virtually unaccessable to the general public.

    Please reload

    Recent Posts

    George W. Ridge, Jr., 1933-2019

    April 26, 2019

    Underground Cold-War Museum

    March 31, 2019

    The Rug-Paved Road to Mecca

    March 24, 2019

    Please reload