PrintFloating the Snake River in Wyoming
The American West has always been about mountains and rivers. It's the geography of the cowboy and the settler, the scenery of the free spirit and the Western soul.
Ansel Adams' 1942 photo The Tetons and the Snake River captures that frontier quintessence perfectly: An S of the Snake River shining in the foreground, snowy stacked pyramids of the Tetons rising in the background. Not a human being or man-made structure in sight.
This was precisely what I had in my mind when I planned a Wyoming vacation. And it's exactly what I'm seeing from a boat on the Snake River.
Except the scene isn't in black and white as the master photographer captured it. It's in pulsating color — first in late-afternoon goldens and then in early evening, rosy alpenglow.
The idea was to escape the city and really get into the Great Outdoors, and Jackson sounded like the perfect destination. Unlike many of the residents and visitors who are here for the active lifestyle, we opted to take in the wild beauty of the area in a most relaxing manner: We would float.
Lots of whitewater cowboys go to other parts of the Snake for its rapids; we, on the other hand, planned a lazier variety of float trip. We would do no work at all. We found a guide outside of Jackson Hole at A.J. DeRosa's Wooden Boat River Tours, and headed out for the 13-mile stretch of the Snake — between Wilson and South Park — that this and many other outfitters call home.
True to the outfitter's name, we are, in fact, in a wooden boat. And true to the Ansel Adams image, there's nothing in view but the majesty of the Tetons and the Snake. The effect of being in a wooden dory on the river is immediate — stress washes away with the lapping of the water against the sides of the boat.
We are so committed to effortlessness today that we just watch as our boatman-guide, Dutch, fly-fishes. Born in Cleveland as Adam Gottschling, Dutch is another soul transformed by northwestern Wyoming and the Snake. By summer, he is a fly-fisherman and river guide for A.J. By winter, he runs the gondola operation at one of the ski slopes outside of town.
During our time on the river, Dutch will catch some impressive-looking Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout. We'll be tempted to grab a rod, but then the massive mountains and glinting water will lull us right back into a state beyond mellowness. You've heard of Riverdance? This is river trance.
The name Snake possibly came from an S-shaped (like a slithering snake) sign made by the Shoshone to mimic swimming salmon. Maybe so, but as we gently switchback this serpentine river, I imagine the name coming from the S shapes the river itself makes as it snakes along.
For a while, the Tetons are in front of us and we seem to be approaching. Soon a sharp bend in the river puts the mountains on our right and we seem to be skirting. We meander this way through the Wyoming countryside, catching sight of fish in the clear water and spotting birds along the tree-lined shore.
What we don't see are people. A.J.'s doesn't run the river when it's crowded. Their style is to take trips in the earliest part of the day or at the end of it, showing guests the river the way A.J. himself likes to see it: "peaceful and quiet and without the distractions that abound in the middle of a typical summer's day."
It might have been ski-bumming that brought A.J. to the valley in the early 1970s, but it was probably a tranquil afternoon just like today that convinced him to stay. It's easy to understand how a river and mountains could compel you to pick up stakes.
Darrell Gulin/Corbis
A.J. and his crew run the Snake May through September, and they are pros. It doesn't take more than the first fast-moving patch of water to see Dutch's expertise in the flick of a wrist and the gentle sweep of an oar, curving us right around a big snag sticking out of the water. That doesn't mean he hasn't wrecked a few boats in his day — the river is a wild mistress.
French-Canadian trappers who traversed the Snake River Canyon in the 1800s knew this. To them, the river was la maudite rivière enragée, which roughly means the stormy, raging, accursed river. Maybe it's because these waters didn't give the trappers and mountain men the beavers they came here for without putting up a fight.
Besides fishing and guiding, Dutch also ties his own flies. They're as pretty as Christmas ornaments, except these flies are made of things like elk hair, hackle feathers, and just about anything else he can dream up to entice the cutthroat trout.
Dutch knows more about wildlife than trout, we quickly find. He points out two nests and tells the life story of the bald eagles that have occupied them. He knows about elk and bison and osprey, too.
And he's an expert on land conservation. We pass a massive home and Dutch is quick to note that many of the celebrities and wealthy individuals who've bought land here have also granted easements to the Jackson Hole Land Trust to ensure that any property they hold in the riparian zone along the river is not developed (only 3 percent of the land in Teton County is private, and a good deal of it is along the Snake).
It keeps the river in wilderness. "How would you like to be floating right now by a bunch of condos?" Dutch asks. With an unobstructed view of a sunset on the Tetons in front of us, his question couldn't be more rhetorical.
In just a few minutes we'll be at the take-out point, where a tepee camp and delicious hors d'oeuvres await.
The lantern-lit tepee certainly makes a pretty picture in the Wyoming night. But it's my new image of the Snake and the Tetons that has imprinted for good, a scene that's alive with the sights and sounds and smells of wilderness.
It's worth every penny we spent on the memorable experience. And it's abundant proof that you could do worse than living the life of a river rat in Wyoming.
FLOATING THE SNAKE
Here's a sampling of the different options A.J. DeRosa's Wooden Boat River Tours offers:
Kennan Ward/Corbis
FULL-DAY CUSTOM TRIPS Take photographs, learn fly-fishing, bird-watch, and enjoy the best of the river. Trips last six to eight hours and depart at 7 a.m. daily.
BREAKFAST WITH THE EAGLES Float down the river, stop for breakfast at the tepee camp, and see wildlife all the while. Trips last four to five hours and depart at 7 a.m.
SUNSET FLOAT A.J.'s favorite trip — a sunset-scenic downriver journey topped off with a nicely prepared meal at A.J.'s tricked-out camp. Trips last four to five hours and depart at 6 p.m. Feel free to bring your own alcoholic beverage.
TWO-DAY FISHING TRIPS Fish during the day and spend a night in a comfortable tepee on the riverbank. All fishing trips are custom-designed to your skill level. Novice fishermen receive basic skills instruction in all phases of fly-fishing, including casting, line handling, reading water, and fisherman's entomology. Experts will appreciate A.J.'s strategic river access and will enjoy picking up local knowledge of water conditions, timing, and hatches.
• Info: A.J. DeRosa's Wooden Boat River Tours, 307-732-2628, www.woodboattours.com
Issue: June 2009
