Idaho the Whitewater State

Rob Lesser
The definitive work on the rivers of Idaho

Jo Cassin, Idaho River Sports
Our best selling guidebook -- period

Dr. David L. Peterman
The best guidebook to the rivers of Idaho

Book Description
Idaho The Whitewater State. The complete guidebook to the rivers of Idaho. Containing over 100 different runs, 100 maps, 16 color and 52 black and white photos, The Whitewater State is the best-selling Idaho guidebook.

From the Publisher
A thorough and comprehensive guidebook to the rivers of Idaho. This is the complete guide to all the rivers.

From the Author
River travel has been a way of life in Idaho since it was first explored by Europeans at the start of the 19th century and probably by the Native Americans before then. Explorers used canoes to cross the Snake River Plain. Lewis and Clark made the Salmon River famous by not running it. A hundred years later miners used the Salmon to float supplies and loggers turned the rivers into flumes. Today kayakers, canoeists and rafters, use the same rivers for recreation, exploration, adventure and relaxation. Until now , in typical Idaho style, river runners simply had to wing it, relying on word-of-mouth descriptions from other boaters and a handful of guidebooks focused on individual rivers. For 10 years I've been winging it on the rivers of Idaho, but I've also been writing it down. the result is this guidebook. It is only one key an hundreds of whitewater runs remain to be explored and unlocked. There's a lot of me in this book. I'm a thorough person and you'll find this book complete and well researched. I like to talk and joke, so you'll find some tall tales an underlying vein of humor. Finally, many of these runs, I selfishly (and foolishly) consider mine please treat them with care. The information contained in this book is the end product of a profound love of rivers, mountains, books and maps, but most of all whitewater. This book is an outgrowth of my desire to understand and apply order to the apparent chaos of whitewater . You will find no stroke-by-stroke rapid descriptions in this book. With the exception of noting most of the major rapids, hazards and portages, once on the river you're on your own. Even if I were along on your run, I probably wouldn't tell you how to run a rapid. Use this book as a means of finding rivers, knowing what to expect and being there at the right time. By writing this guidebook, hopefully I've saved you some tedious hours in the library, a few wrong turns on the road, and increased your time on the water. I put together the first draft of this book back in 1985. The reaction of the whitewater crowd ran from enthusiastic to appalled. Most of the appalled reactions cam from my close friends. After all, were living in our own private Idaho of whitewater bliss: big water, lots of rivers and all of it to ourselves. Why share it? So I shelved my notebooks and went kayaking. Then low-head hydro came into venture-capital vogue. And while I don't mind sharing a wave with other boaters, I sure as hell don't like to share my rivers with penstocks and turbines. Two of the best defenses against dam builders are a large group of river users and a written record of use. A guidebook serves both purposes: introducing people to new rivers and documenting use. In fact on popular runs a guidebook may actually reduce crowding by presenting boaters with new alternatives. It's a trade-off, but I don't think sharing the river with dams is really sharing. This is a small book, but it's the result of a big effort. What you can't see are the piles of notebooks, the miles of computer printouts, and the stacks of maps. I've set the record for map use at BSU, worn out four kayaks, outgrown two computer systems, broken two camera bodies and three lenses, spent a small fortune, and swam several nasty rapids. I hope you find these efforts useful. I've had a lot of fun.

From the Inside Flap
This field contains copy from the inside flap, with a maximum length of 1,000 words.

From the Back Cover
In search of whitewater? Look no further. This guidebook is your key to discovering the best kept whitewater secrets in Idaho. with an unequaled variety of rivers, from the desert canyons of the south to the wilderness runs of the north Idaho is The Whitewater State. Take your pick of the famous whitewater runs on the Salmon, Selway and Snake Rivers, or any of another 100 whitewater trips covered in the book. Kayakers, canoeists and rafters, experts and novices alike, will find The Whitewater State packed with information on every run. Paddle alongside the watery ruins of a ghost town, test the limits of the whitewater scale, or float through the largest wilderness area in the Lower 48. Let The Whitewater State be your guide to the best rivers in Idaho. Every river is carefully described, with maps, mile-by-mile profiles and outstanding photos.

About the Author
Grant Amaral has been paddling whitewater kayaks and canoes since the mid '70s. He has been exploring Idaho rivers for the almost 20 years and to support his whitewater habit he has spent most of those years working as a river guide in Idaho, California and Mexico. He has kayaked in South and Central America and all over the Western United States. He is currently making a living running whitewater kayaking trips on the rivers of Mexico. Amaral has a BA in communication from Boise State University and has made a career, or lack thereof, of kayaking.


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