BANKS, Idaho — The warm weather means it's time for kayakers and rafters to dust off the gear and start hitting the river, but for one local legend, next month will be 100 months in a row of navigating the Staircase section on the South Fork of the Payette River.
I didn't run into very many boaters on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I did run into local legend Ted Day and his crew as they took on the South Fork of the Payette River.
Check out the video to see Ted and his crew run Staircase on the South Fork of the Payette River
"We started in 2017, and the challenge was, can we boat staircase every month of the year?" asked Day. "This month is 99 in a row, so in April, we will have some sort of celebration."
To accomplish this milestone, Ted has taken on the raging currents in the spring that routinely got up to 8,000 cfs in the past few years. He braved the cold in the winter. Some years were difficult to keep the streak alive because if it gets really cold, the river completely freezes over.
"There were some dicey ones in January," said Day. "I think the worst day was eight degrees out, we barely had enough open water to float, and that’s the day I flipped my cataraft."
Ted and his crew didn't have to worry about that this winter because we had record warm temperatures and low snowpack. So I wanted to tap into Ted's expertise to ask him how high the flow will get on the South Fork of the Payette River.
"It was a very bad year, but the river is always there," said Day. "I’m going to guess South Fork, and I hope I’m wrong; it might not crack 4,000 through Staircase."
The South Fork is a natural river that starts in the Sawtooths, so in good years, rafters and kayakers get high flows from snow melt with the help of the Middle Fork of the Payette.
However, the Deadwood River is dam-controlled, and so is the North Fork of the Payette, so when summer rolls around, boaters benefit from consistent flows to meet the irrigation need.
"Absolutely, we really have it good here in Boise," said Day. "We have the Payette that is fed by the Cascade Reservoir and the Deadwood, so we are going to have flows all summer long."
The North Fork is currently flowing at 545 cfs, which is still pretty low, and we have seen the water managers hold water back until June. This year, the famed North Fork Championship returns on June 9.
However, right now boaters can float the South Fork and the Main. This is my favorite time of year as the locals get to enjoy these rivers before the crowds show up around Memorial Day Weekend. However, don't let the warm weather fool you, as the rivers remain really cold.
“You definitely need some sort of protection, don't come out here in shorts and a t-shirt," said Day. "The water is going to be cold all the way through May, so just make sure you are dressed for it."
