06-08-2014, 02:40 PM
There's around 16 miles of meadow stream in the valley that is ideal for a drift boat, canoe or a 1 man inflatable. There's no rocks or rapids, certainly no need to portage or to buy a raft. It's usually down to the size of a large creek (250cfs) by late summer and a motor is total overkill. Not sure what Ironrod is referring to by portages. It's all flat water and mostly too shallow for a motor. There's six boat ramps spread over 16 miles. Perfect beginner water.
On the other hand....
Between the highway bridge and the Bitch Creek slide, the Teton can NOT be run in a raft. Anyone who says otherwise is blowing smoke. It's called "the Narrows" for a good reason. It is continuous class 3 to 5 whitewater and too constricted for anything but expert kayakers. At Boulder Dam rapid, the river dumps almost 10 vertical feet into a pile of rocks and then zooms through a maze of boulders and logs. There are four other rapids almost as bad as Boulder Dam. At Felt, the power plant diversion pulls most of the river through a powerhouse, not even a kayak can run that half mile. Putting in at the powerhouse means you have to run Loco-motive (aka Trainwreck) rapids, a nasty class 4 lurking 1/2 mile downstream. The lodges access at Bitch Creek to avoid running Loco-motive. It would be 10 times easier for the guides to use a cart on the powerplant service road to get a raft into the canyon but Loco-motive is a serious drop featuring the river slamming headlong into a wall.
Rafting starts at the mouth of Bitch Creek via the slide. If you want to drag a raft down a 600ft hillside and lower it on rope over two cliff bands, then you can access the river at the Bitch Creek slide. This is probably Idaho's most brutal boat launch. Spring Hollow is the only public access point in the canyon where one can get road access to the water until the takeout at the old dam site, 12 miles down. The other two roads are private and gated. About a mile below Bitch Creek, the landslides from the dam collapse begin and the river is frequently blocked by debris fields. These change the nature of the river from continuous rapids to a pool and drop profile. Some of these pourovers are no big deal. Others rate class 3 to 4 in high water. Many are shallow boulder sieves in low water. Most years, shallow pourovers through boulders becomes an issue around late july or august. These landslides are only 40 years old, so this is often rough, loose terrain. Portages involve dragging rafts over boulder fields. If you plan to raft in the canyon, you need to be a very skilled oarsman and very fit. And, yes, it's true, the canyon is full of rattlesnakes so watch your feet on those portages. Point is, you don't buy a raft for casual use on the Teton.
Here is a video of what is waiting for you if you try to run the Narrows. That's Boulder Dam at 1:24, the powerhouse at 1:47, Loco-motive at 1:56 and he passes Bitch Creek at 2:13, to give you an idea of the "easier" whitewater below Bitch. If you freeze frame at 2:15, you can see the slide on the hillside behind him..
[url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZtAi0V32ZM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZtAi0V32ZM[/url]
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On the other hand....
Between the highway bridge and the Bitch Creek slide, the Teton can NOT be run in a raft. Anyone who says otherwise is blowing smoke. It's called "the Narrows" for a good reason. It is continuous class 3 to 5 whitewater and too constricted for anything but expert kayakers. At Boulder Dam rapid, the river dumps almost 10 vertical feet into a pile of rocks and then zooms through a maze of boulders and logs. There are four other rapids almost as bad as Boulder Dam. At Felt, the power plant diversion pulls most of the river through a powerhouse, not even a kayak can run that half mile. Putting in at the powerhouse means you have to run Loco-motive (aka Trainwreck) rapids, a nasty class 4 lurking 1/2 mile downstream. The lodges access at Bitch Creek to avoid running Loco-motive. It would be 10 times easier for the guides to use a cart on the powerplant service road to get a raft into the canyon but Loco-motive is a serious drop featuring the river slamming headlong into a wall.
Rafting starts at the mouth of Bitch Creek via the slide. If you want to drag a raft down a 600ft hillside and lower it on rope over two cliff bands, then you can access the river at the Bitch Creek slide. This is probably Idaho's most brutal boat launch. Spring Hollow is the only public access point in the canyon where one can get road access to the water until the takeout at the old dam site, 12 miles down. The other two roads are private and gated. About a mile below Bitch Creek, the landslides from the dam collapse begin and the river is frequently blocked by debris fields. These change the nature of the river from continuous rapids to a pool and drop profile. Some of these pourovers are no big deal. Others rate class 3 to 4 in high water. Many are shallow boulder sieves in low water. Most years, shallow pourovers through boulders becomes an issue around late july or august. These landslides are only 40 years old, so this is often rough, loose terrain. Portages involve dragging rafts over boulder fields. If you plan to raft in the canyon, you need to be a very skilled oarsman and very fit. And, yes, it's true, the canyon is full of rattlesnakes so watch your feet on those portages. Point is, you don't buy a raft for casual use on the Teton.
Here is a video of what is waiting for you if you try to run the Narrows. That's Boulder Dam at 1:24, the powerhouse at 1:47, Loco-motive at 1:56 and he passes Bitch Creek at 2:13, to give you an idea of the "easier" whitewater below Bitch. If you freeze frame at 2:15, you can see the slide on the hillside behind him..
[url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZtAi0V32ZM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZtAi0V32ZM[/url]
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