Spring Break
River of Fire
A forest fire raging behind them, a group of rafters learns nature's harsh lessons
by Benjamin Terris
Associate editor
Features | 10/2/07
Posted online at 8:21 PM EST on 10/1/07
/ Last updated at 5:06 AM EST on 10/1/07
I was in the land where everything is appropriately named.
I had driven out of Boise, Idaho, past eponymous rivers, mountains and forests. The Burnt Pine Deli sat beside a grove of charred evergreens. Near the Salmon River (formerly filled with glistening pink flesh) I boarded a seven-seater airplane (Salmon Air) and flew between the jagged peaks of the Sawtooth Mountains. I was headed to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states. It was in this ominously named section of the river, beside a large red bluff named "Red Bluff," that the "Red Bluff Fire" would send our entire group of rafters scurrying downriver for safety.
When the Shashone-Bancock Indians-who used to inhabit this part of Idaho-had to flee from fire, it must have been easy for them. The Sho-Bans (or as the White Man called them, The Sheep Eater Indians), lived austere lifestyles and could probably have packed up their cave encampments and jumped into their wooden canoes in no time. The Sho-Bans had always rejected agricultural advice from settlers, and instead lived as hunter-gatherers, eating long-horned sheep and collecting bitterroots from the Bitterroot Mountains. The Sho-Bans were not a violent group, and without farms or a desire to fight roaming tribes, they tended to move around a lot. So, when lightning struck, and acres began to burn around them, their effortless mobility was key. It wasn't so easy for us.
The Outdoor Adventure River Specialists [OARS] rafting company caters to a lot of old people. It could easily be renamed OARP. It also caters to a lot of lazy people -though the two are certainly not mutually exclusive. Oh, and let's not forget about the people on the OARS rafting trip who have never slept in a tent in their backyard, let alone in the biggest wilderness in the contiguous United States -for whom fire and panic are inextricable. These were the people who were lured into the wild by the promise of cooked steak and wild salmon at night, hot coffee and tea in the morning and scenic views by boat in the afternoon. These people had very different motivations than, say, Earl Parrott.
I had driven out of Boise, Idaho, past eponymous rivers, mountains and forests. The Burnt Pine Deli sat beside a grove of charred evergreens. Near the Salmon River (formerly filled with glistening pink flesh) I boarded a seven-seater airplane (Salmon Air) and flew between the jagged peaks of the Sawtooth Mountains. I was headed to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states. It was in this ominously named section of the river, beside a large red bluff named "Red Bluff," that the "Red Bluff Fire" would send our entire group of rafters scurrying downriver for safety.
When the Shashone-Bancock Indians-who used to inhabit this part of Idaho-had to flee from fire, it must have been easy for them. The Sho-Bans (or as the White Man called them, The Sheep Eater Indians), lived austere lifestyles and could probably have packed up their cave encampments and jumped into their wooden canoes in no time. The Sho-Bans had always rejected agricultural advice from settlers, and instead lived as hunter-gatherers, eating long-horned sheep and collecting bitterroots from the Bitterroot Mountains. The Sho-Bans were not a violent group, and without farms or a desire to fight roaming tribes, they tended to move around a lot. So, when lightning struck, and acres began to burn around them, their effortless mobility was key. It wasn't so easy for us.
The Outdoor Adventure River Specialists [OARS] rafting company caters to a lot of old people. It could easily be renamed OARP. It also caters to a lot of lazy people -though the two are certainly not mutually exclusive. Oh, and let's not forget about the people on the OARS rafting trip who have never slept in a tent in their backyard, let alone in the biggest wilderness in the contiguous United States -for whom fire and panic are inextricable. These were the people who were lured into the wild by the promise of cooked steak and wild salmon at night, hot coffee and tea in the morning and scenic views by boat in the afternoon. These people had very different motivations than, say, Earl Parrott.
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