Bruce Reichert, Host:
The path less traveled. For some it's the sure way to adventure. For it can lead to hidden treasures that few will ever see.

Greg Doner:
Here it is. This thing left Nevada and it was trying to get to Washington state and here they ended up in mid-central Idaho. It's amazing those guys survived.

Reichert:
Sometimes getting off the beaten path takes us far from home. Sometimes it makes the familiar new again.

Roy Foote:
It's one of the wonderful things about ballooning is you get to see a total different perspective. I've flown over the top of eagles. And to fly above an eagle in the air, it is just an amazing experience.

Reichert:
Sometimes the journey becomes the destination.

Paul Janes:
It feels like you're riding a real fast motorcycle in the air without any restrictions. You're just, you're free.

As soon as you open the canopy, it just seems like everything gets quiet. Just nice and peaceful up there.

Rob Lesser:
It's like a big huge milkshake mixer. You don't know what's going to happen. You could either crest, it could be very green, you duck. You pretty much are hanging on and waiting for it to let up.

John Walz:
In planning it we had to think that we were going to spend six to seven days out there. So we've got seven individual water drops. We managed to get a two-way radio which is pretty necessary out here, I think. If you are going out over the middle of the lava field, it could be life or death. It's a pretty big undertaking.

Reichert:
Outdoor Idaho searches for adventure along the path less traveled.

In states like Idaho where the geology tends to dominate any discussion about travel plans, folks have gotten pretty creative about where they go and how they get there.

Hi, I'm Bruce Reichert and welcome to Outdoor Idaho.

You know, travel agents have gotten pretty good about showing the West's better known landmarks. But what if your goal is to get away from the crowd, to visit places that few will ever see. Well, join us as we explore some paths less traveled.

Roy Foote:
About 13 years ago I bought my wife a balloon ride for her birthday. And we were so moved by the experience, so we crewed the next day and we have been doing it ever since.

It's totally peaceful, it's totally quiet. I call it my drugs. If I get a balloon flight every couple weeks, then I can deal with the rest of life and everything else, so.

You get to see a total different perspective. I've flown over the top of eagles. And to fly above an eagle in the air, it is just an amazing experience. It's an emotional thing that you never forget.

We'll do a low level strafing around here just for kicks.

There is an amazing phenomenon that cows will do and that is if you moo at them they believe there is a cow in the sky. And if I'm close enough, we'll get them all to look this way.

Moo

Hi guys.

I love doing that. That's one of those silly things we do, but.

When we fly, it's you know, people say, "Where are you going to land?" We go, "Well, we don't know for sure."

We can, sort of steer the balloon with the different currents at different altitudes.

It's one of those great sports where it's wonderful as long as you don't care where you're going or how long it takes to get there.

Reichert:
Feast or famine. That seems to be the story of the Owyhee River.

Usually the flows are too low to launch a raft. Sometimes they are dangerously high.

But on this particular spring day, on a stretch called the Lower Owyhee, things are just right.

Peter Palmer is the snow survey supervisor for the Department of Agriculture. He helps map the water flows for some of the West's major river basins.

Peter Palmer:
This is near its peak flow for the year and it'll drop to almost a trickle.

Right now we're looking at about 3,000 cfs. And in 1993 this river yielded 55,000 cfs at Rome in March, a combination of snow melt and heavy rains in the basin.

Reichert:
The 400 mile long Owyhee River drains three states: Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon. It's been called the loneliest river in the lower 48.

Geologists tell us as we float down the Lower Owyhee, we are actually drifting backward in time. From the 10 million year old remains of a primordial lake, to canyons cut from 16 million year old rhyolite.

That's going back roughly 100,000 years for each river mile.

Around virtually every bend, we encounter a lost world of strangely sculpted pinnacles. And wondrously layered formations with black bands of lava topping and preserving ancient lake sediments.

Near these badlands of the West, our little group pitches camp.

Jim Acee, Rafter:
The sedimentary rock, as we're here at Pruitt's Castle, you can see, is extremely attractive in its formations. And there's not that many people running the river right now, which also I like, the nice camp spots. And usually we run it in four days. And so you could take a day off work and run it over the weekend.

The weather here really varies and it's seldom that you get four days of nice weather in a row in the springtime here. And this is a nice river to run in the springtime and it's one of the attractive things about it is there's less people in the springtime. But you can expect snow, or 80 degree temperatures. Within a couple day period, it can happen down here.

Reichert:
But tonight, as we prepare for a dinner of dutch oven spareribs, smothered in sauerkraut and apples, there seems little chance of a spring snow storm or that our brief stay along this muddy river will be disrupted by other humans.

Acee:
12:08, all right, a little bit of a late start and we have 19 miles to do today. The first rapid that we're going to come to, that's a major rapid is Whistling Bird. And it's rated Class 3 typically, depending upon the water level.

The water flow tends to go this way and it tends to push you over towards that slab, where there is a hole on the outside, a big one entering, and a very small hole coming out that rafts can go into but rafts can't come out of.

Montgomery is the next rapid and it is two miles after Whistling Bird. What you want to do is just stay along this wall and come down through, there's another hole to avoid down here and go right on through it.

Rapids on this river are generally moderate in difficulty. There are a couple Class 4's at certain water flows but generally it's Class 3 and Class 2 water.

I think this river is an excellent river for family float and for varied craft. It's great for beginning to intermediate kayakers. This river can be fun for any type of craft floating down it.

You can come down this river at certain times in an open canoe.

Palmer:
Open canoeing adds another level of challenge without necessarily increasing the danger. Instead of looking at where can I get the biggest splash, you look at a complex large rapid and you look for subtle little weaknesses where you can put an open canoe through there.

Acee:
While other rivers either don't have enough water or have too much water flowing, during the months of April and May, this river has usually a very nice flow.

My dog was concerned about the noise of the rapids and went to the back of the raft. And on that first bump, plopped off, and I never realize she was out of the boat until I came down the chute and was surprised to see her little nose floating by.

And luckily Ken, the kayaker, was downstream just a little bit further and was able to pick right back up. Without her life jacket I think she would have been in trouble, ??? she isn't that good a swimmer. So the life jacket is, I think, always a good idea for dogs and of course anyone else, kids and adults.

It is my favorite desert river. It's just enchanting. There's hardly anything that's more dramatic in terms of illustrating the beauty of nature. The solitude and the flow of the river and the beauty of the sky sort of create a magical feeling of truly wilderness experience that you don't get on many other rivers that are more well traveled.

Reichert:
In the 1920s, one man made history by walking 80 miles in 17 days across the most desolate landscape in all of Idaho. Now, 75 years later, these young men will attempt to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Robert Limbert.

John Walz, Hiker:
He was carrying an old leather backpack. He had beans, mostly was his food, for the two weeks or almost three weeks he was out here, carrying a large rifle, a big tripod, a heavy camera. We have dehydrated food, lightweight equipment, nice warm sleeping bags. And we definitely have the benefit of overhead aerial photography. We know what we're getting into.

Reichert:
Their goal: to cross central Idaho's Great Rift, a land of massive lava fields, home to caves and craters and cinder cones, one of the deepest and longest rift zones on earth. And the origin of the lava flows that blanketed the Snake River Plain.

Robert Limbert's efforts ultimately lead to the creation of Craters of the Moon National Monument. John Walz is hoping that his journey will lead to protection of some of the other lava flows that comprise this harsh yet fragile ecosystem.

Walz:
The geology of this area is similar to only two other places in the world and that is Hawaii and Iceland. And when you combine the geology and the wildlife, there is no other place like this on earth and it needs to be protected. People need to see it.

Bruce Edmonston, Chief Ranger:
What we've done with John and Mike and his folks, are work with them on caching water out there so they can, they've got a reliable water source that they can count on when they arrive, and radio communications, lots of things, things Limbert didn't have when they headed off on their trip.

They had some major problems, they ran out of water, they were watching birds flying to help them spot water holes, which just barely got them through.

The area is just immense. Probably talking two to three million acres of land that's almost inaccessible even today.

Reichert:
Three men began the journey, only two would finish, John Walz and Mike Jensen. Like Limbert they took pictures of the things they saw. They also brought along a video camera to document their experiences.

Walz:
The walking was extremely tough. Our backpacks weighed between 60 and 70 pounds. There really wasn't any cover from the sun. We had to keep pushing ourselves, constantly to continue to walk. Certain areas of the lava fields were magnetically charged and would draw our compass needles 19-20 degrees off in another direction, so you couldn't rely on your compass. You had to rely on landmarks.

The most relaxing part of the whole trip was getting to camp, putting moleskin on your feet, relaxing, eating some food, forcing yourself to eat some food. One of the more spectacular things that we saw when we were out there was the night sky. The thunder storms would build throughout the day and usually come in at night.

Robert Limbert's picture that showed him rappeling into a hole drew us down to the Vermillion Chasm in the first place. When we got there we realized it was only a four foot hole and didn't actually go anywhere. We thought that was kind of funny.

Baker Caves area is really unique. Indians lived there for several hundred years. During the time they were there they made all the day to day tools they needed. There's evidence of this, a little work station that they used to chip the obsidian on. It's quite a neat place.

The scenery out there is totally unique. You combine the stark emptiness of the lava fields with lush ferns down in the crevasses. Anticipation of what's going to be coming over the next pressure ridge. It's one thing that keeps you going out there. You always want to see what's over the next ridge.

Josie Merithew, Full Spectrum Tours:
Ah, what a beautiful day, huh.

Reichert:
Here on the outskirts of North Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille, the water is more abundant and the travel a lot easier.

Merithew:
The delta is basically a wetland area that is formed by the main branches of the Clark Fork River as it fingers out into the lake. So you have a combination of wetland bird habitat with open glacial lake rock formations. So it's pretty unique in that you can have two entirely different habitats in such close proximity.

It's probably one of the larger wetland areas that I know of in North Idaho that's still intact, that isn't currently being filled in for housing. Big motor boats don't come out here because it is so shallow. There's quite a few hazards underneath the surface of the water. So that generally keeps a lot of the big motor boat traffic out of here, which makes it ideal for paddling and wildlife watching, photography.

It's a roughly seven mile trail and you can do shorter versions. You can go back and find your own little trail and follow it. Some of them go through, some of them don't. You know, it's good for the soul.

Part of me would really rather not tell anybody about this place. I have come to the decision that in order to protect the area it needs to get a little exposure so people are aware it is here, they can come out experience it, gain a kinship with the area, and then maybe down the road be the voice for the area in terms of protecting it. And then maybe places like this could exist for a little longer.

Brian Corey, Skydiving Instructor:
We're adrenaline junkies. Every time we go up we get an adrenaline rush, but it's legal.

Reichert:
For some the journey takes them inside to look for strength within themselves, to rise to a new challenge.

Paul Janes, Skydiving Instructor:
Me and my wife was headed to the movies and I says, "Hey, maybe I'll just stop and do a skydive." She said, "Sure go for it." So I went in and got a jump and ever since then I've been jumping just as often as possible.

Corey:
I saw it at a motorcycle race when I was real young and I said, "That's what I want to do."

Bob Denton, Skydiver:
This is my 26th year. We started out using old surplus canopies and then we would redesign them ourselves, and get them down to where we'd get a little bit of forward speed. And they got a little bit more reliable. And then the sport grew.

Corey:
My first one was great and my second one I was scared to death because I knew what was coming and I was like, "Why am I doing it again? Because it's fun." And that was it. I was hooked.

Janes:
It's kind of a weird feeling, you know, just stepping out on the step. But then as you leave the airplane there's nothing like it. It feels like you are riding on a real fast motorcycle in the air without any restrictions. You're just, you're free.

Corey:
You don't think about anything but jumping. It's just, everything else is put away and it's just concentrate on skydiving, and it's great.

Janes:
As soon as you open up the canopy it just seems like everything gets quiet. Just nice and peaceful up there. Just float around and do your turns or whatever and find your spot you're going to land and come on back in.

Denton:
After 2200 jumps you say, "Well, I've been there, done that, don't need the t-shirt." But, I'll tell you what, you've got that really rush every time. It is a ball guys. It really gets your adrenaline going. It's a lot of fun.

Greg Doner, Guide:
We'll be carrying in approximately maybe 11 - 12 hundred pounds with nine llamas. It would be a pretty nice hike.

Reichert:
The Payette National Forest, in Central Idaho, has more than its share of tall pines, beautiful meadows and high mountain lakes. But these hikers are seeking something special, something that no other national forest can claim.

On a cold blustery January in 1943, eight young men set out from Nevada in a B-23 Dragon Bomber. They were heading for the state of Washington.

Instead, they wound up on a frozen back country lake, in the wilderness above the town of McCall, Idaho.

Doner:
Come on this way. The plane's a couple hundred yards over through these trees.

Reichert:
Fifty years later, that crash site has become a destination spot for summertime hikers.

Doner:
Well, here's the bomber. It went down hard, didn't it. The wing tips are probably back here off of either side. This thing must have been coming in at least 120 or so, across that lake. What a ride.

They were running out of fuel and they spotted Loon Lake, spotted a hole in the clouds and that was it. They only had one landing shot because just at the head of the lake is a, two peaks and there's no way they could have made it around or up and over. So, this was a really lucky shot they took.

Reichert:
Getting to the crash site certainly qualifies as an adventure but we wondered how those eight young men must have felt seconds before they crash landed in the middle of no where.

Gloria Freeborg, Portland, Oregon:
He said, we hit the top of trees and sheared them off and the impact was such that it, they didn't have seats or anything, they just sat around in the back of the plane and he said, we were really shook up and by the time we finally came to a halt, he said you wondered if you were really alive.

Reichert:
The youngest of the eight men died several years ago, but his widow, Mrs. Ed Freeborg, has saved the scrap book and the memories.

Freeborg:
They kept flying around hoping they would see something and never did until they saw this big white patch of ground, and they didn't know whether it was a lake or a field or what.

And so they decided to try and set down on the lake. And so they did. And I remember Ed saying that he was in the co-pilot seat and he said he hurriedly got to the back of the plane because he said, that was no place if you were going to crash.

Reichert:
Remarkably, all eight survived the impact. After several days of waiting in the plane, they decided to send three of them for help through waist deep snow.

Freeborg:
As far as food went, I know they didn't have very much. And I remember Ed said he shot a squirrel and cooked the squirrel. And he said, nothing tasted quite as good as the broth from that squirrel. The meat was so tough you could hardly chew it. But he said, we chewed away to get some kind of taste.

Reichert:
After hiking for 14 days through 40 miles of heavy snows, the three men eventually stumbled upon some cabins. Their rescue made headlines throughout the West.

Freeborg:
Ed was only 19 years old at this time. It was hard for him to talk about it for a long time. But I think he just was very thankful that they were able to get out and all of them were saved.

Doner:
You know, this doesn't belong here but then again it fits now. I guess it deserves to stay here. I hope it can be left alone. I wish that people had a little less damaging attitude toward it. It would be neat if the historians or forest service people could put up some signs back here to explain a little more for people.

Not that it gets a whole lot of people back in here but, you know, it would be nice.

Reichert:
If you've taken many trips through Idaho, you already know that the getting there can be more exciting than the destination.

This is the Snake River near Twin Falls. Irrigation needs can reduce this to a trickle. But for a couple of weeks in the spring of certain years, this Milner stretch is the biggest, baddest, white water in Idaho. It can make getting there the ride of a lifetime.

Pat Harper, Kayaker:
Man. Oh, boy.

Reichert:
Even for experienced kayakers like Rob Lesser and Pat Harper, running the Milner at high water is a risky proposition.

Harper:
It looks big. It's going to be a ride.

Rob Lesser, Kayaker:
Basically, it's bend over and take your beating. Up there in that eddy it's going to be a little bit, a little bit tense.

Harper:
Well, let's go do it.

Lesser:
You look at it and you're nervous. It doesn't matter if it's 10,000 cfs whether it's 15,000, it's big, it's powerful, it looks different every time. You have to get up for it. We're anxious, we're nervous, and it's how you deal with that. And it's passing that first test, is very important.

Harper:
As I drop down into the first entrance waves, there's kind of a real choppy wave. And you're kind of keying off these two big waves coming off the sides, diagonal waves. And once you cross it you can see this hole and it's big. It's just this big wall of white, you know. It's like driving into a snowbank.

You just take a big deep breath and hit it. Just lean way forward on the deck of your boat and try to reach down with your paddle and grab some green water.

I was amazed at how it shoved us through. In looking at it and scouting it I thought it was going to stop us.

Lesser:
The next big thing would be the V wave. And the V wave, very, very squirrelly as you approach it. It changes before your eyes. All of a sudden the wave catches me and then it kicks me around and then I fall over upside down. I mean it is an adrenaline rush but basically it's just plain nerves.

Harper:
It's not so much the adrenaline for me as it is the feeling of accomplishment that you get afterwards is just unmatched. It's some of the biggest water that I've run in terms of just real powerful, big, steep water with a lot of gradient.

In fact, I believe it's the steepest, largest volume of water in the West. It's an amazing canyon. You know, when you're driving out through here, you never see it. But boy, it's definitely worth checking out. It's an overlooked place, I think.
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