Skip to content
A boater in a rust-red shirt and grey cap leans hard into an oar with the blade buried in whitewater beside a wooden doryJun 11–12, 2024
Trip June 11–12, 2024
Flow 18,000–20,000 cfs
Boats 1
Photos 21
Trip Report

Snake RiverJune 2024 (Alpine Canyon x3, Dory)

A two-day June 2024 dory trip on the Snake's Alpine Canyon with Greg Madsen — three laps at 20,000 / 19,000 / 18,000 cfs. At 18,000 cfs Lunch Counter had a bite; a high-side save kept the dory upright.

Day 1

Day 1 — Alpine Canyon x2 (20K & 19K CFS)

June 11, 2024
A wooden dory drops into a wide breaking hole with whitewater curling up around the bow, the boater in blue seated low ahead of the rower who is pulling on both oars, steep conifer ridges and a road grade on the right slope.
A boater in a blue jacket and cap stands upright in the bow of a wooden dory as the boat runs out through the foaming tail of a rapid, the rower seated behind with a buff over his face and both oars shipped forward, forested slopes on both banks.
A boater in a blue shirt and cap sits turned around in the bow of a wooden dory pointing downstream, while the rower in a rust-red shirt with a buff pulled over his face holds both oars level, the wide river running fast and riffled between forested slopes.
Day 2

Day 2 — Alpine Canyon (18K CFS, High-Side at Lunch Counter)

June 12, 2024
A bearded boater in a rust-red long-sleeve shirt, brown wide-brim hat and sunglasses looks back over his shoulder from the oars of a white wooden dory drifting a wide, silty grey-green river, with a second boater in blue seated in the bow and steep conifer-covered canyon walls closing in ahead.
A tiny-planet 360 projection showing a white wooden dory with two boaters aboard floating at the centre of a circular disc of muddy river water, the conifer forest and canyon slopes wrapped radially around the edge beneath deep blue sky and scattered cumulus.
A white wooden dory drives bow-first into an exploding wall of whitewater on a high-flowing mountain river, the rower braced on the oars in an orange life vest while a second boater stands in the bow, dark conifer slopes and a rock outcrop rising on either side under a cloudless blue sky.
Bow-forward view from a white wooden dory as it drops into a breaking lateral wave that curls across the right side of the frame, the rower in a red shirt and brown hat reaching on the oars and a boater in a blue jacket and teal cap seated low in the bow, forested ridges and blue sky above.
A white wooden dory heeled hard over to the left with a wall of aerated whitewater breaking above the right gunwale, the rower pulling an oar deep in the foam and a boater in blue braced ahead of him, dark bedrock and green brush along the far bank.
View downriver over the bow of a wooden dory toward a broad line of breaking waves spanning the channel, the rower in red reaching forward on the oars and a boater in a blue jacket seated in the bow, tall conifer ridges on both sides and cumulus building against a deep blue sky.
A wooden dory leaning into a field of foaming whitewater with sun flare across the top of the frame, the rower crouched low over the oars and a boater in blue barely visible ahead of him, dark rock ledges along the left bank and forested slopes behind.
A dory rower in a rust-red shirt raises a fist while a boater in blue sits in the bow, churning brown whitewater ahead and dark rock ledges and pine forest along the left bank.
A raised wooden oar blade stands vertically in the foreground of a wooden dory running a long wave train, the rower seated below it in a rust-red shirt and a boater in blue in the bow, forested canyon walls on both sides and a road grade cut into the slope on the right.
A wooden oar blade swings across the upper frame of a bow-forward view from a dory in a wave train, the rower hunched over the oars in a rust-red shirt and a boater in blue seated ahead, conifer slopes on both banks and a road grade on the right hillside.
A wooden dory runs beside a tall grey cliff face on the left bank while a burst of whitewater breaks over the right side of the boat, a boater in a blue jacket standing braced in the bow and the rower's arm raised on the oar, conifer slopes and cumulus cloud beyond.
Bow-forward view from a wooden dory on smooth silty water beneath a tall grey rock face on the left bank, a boater in blue leaning over the bow and the rower seated at the oars, forested ridges and towering cumulus opening downstream.
Bow-forward view from a wooden dory heading into a wide field of standing waves on a swollen river, the rower in a rust-red shirt pulling on both oars and a boater in blue seated low in the bow, dense conifer forest rising on both banks under blue sky.
A wooden dory sits centred in a broad train of breaking waves on a wide brown river, the rower's arms spread on the oars and a boater in a blue jacket and teal cap in the bow, forested slopes on both sides and scattered cumulus across a deep blue sky.
A boater in a rust-red shirt and tan life vest reaches forward on an oar aboard a wooden dory while a second boater in blue leans out over the bow, breaking waves stacked along the left side of the channel and a gravel and brush bank on the right.
A bearded boater in a brown cap and sunglasses works the oars of a wooden dory, face turned partly toward the camera, while a second boater in a blue jacket crouches over the bow as the boat enters a broad line of breaking waves on a fast brown river.
A wooden dory noses into a large curling wave that fills the middle of the channel, whitewater rising level with the gunwale, a boater in a blue jacket and teal cap braced in the bow and the rower pulling hard on the oars, forested canyon slopes beyond.
A tiny-planet 360 projection showing a wooden dory with two boaters punching a large breaking wave that arcs across the top of a circular disc of river, conifer forest wrapped around the rim beneath blue sky and cumulus.
Gear

Dory.

Data

Flow: USGS , 18,000–20,000 cfs daily mean.

Explore
Cataract Canyon — May 2015 (~20,000 cfs)
spring · 17,040cfs

Cataract Canyon — May 2015 (~20,000 cfs)

5 days
Cataract Canyon — October 2026
fall · 7,086cfs

Cataract Canyon — October 2026

5 days
Desolation Canyon — March 2026
spring · 1,460cfs

Desolation Canyon — March 2026

5 days
Cataract Canyon — October 2025
fall · 5,610cfs

Cataract Canyon — October 2025

5 days
Cataract Canyon — December 2016
winter · 5,827cfs

Cataract Canyon — December 2016

3 days
Split Mountain — August 2025 (Day Trip with Kids)
summer · 1,880cfs

Split Mountain — August 2025 (Day Trip with Kids)

1 days