Valley View Recreation Club

Idaho offers a playground for the Rocky Mountains

Our launch spot was just below Sunbeam Dam. Instructions are given by Johnny and Jenna Martin, a tall blonde with an inquisitive nature and a loopy cowboy hat. We push out into the current. My wife Jane and I are teamed up with fellow galley slave partners Cody and Audra, Johnny as skipper. Our boat rocks and spins unpredictably as we roar down the snowmelt swollen river. Dead ahead is the "Piece of Cake," run where the current plunges into a hole, tossing the bow skyward as we paddle madly. Three-foot waves crash over the four of us as Johnny grins and barks out orders. With feet wedged under the front seat I somehow remain in the raft, as the throttling waves keep coming. We chop, chop, chop at the water with our paddles. Finally, Johnny thunders "relax." Under a cloudless blue sky we forge downriver through a series of rapids that we navigate with growing confidence. In late June the current typically runs at 2-3 miles an hour. With the roar of the roiling river for mood music, we're traveling at a 5-6 mile an hour clip. As we rush past a tented spot on the river bank Johnny yells: "Wave to your lunch spot, we won't be making a stop today."  Our four-hour trip is wrapped up in a little over two hours. The living history of the Old West mingles with the solitude of the ranch's 1,000 acres. Known as the "Heart of Idaho," this land is a mosaic of sparkling alpine lakes, aspen woodlands, sagebrush flats and rushing streams fed by an early summer snowmelt. The largest protected wilderness area in the "lower 48," it's as pretty as any national park, minus the crowds. Captivated by the beauty of the Sawtooths, New York Frigidaire executive Winston Paul bought the ranch property as an invitation-only hunting club in 1929. A team of 60 workers snaked pine logs up the creeks to build the 8,000-square-foot lodge modeled after Yellowstone's Old Faithful Lodge. Masons crafted the floor-to ceiling fireplaces, while blacksmiths forged the door latches and wrought-iron trim. Set at an elevation of 6,500 feet the guest ranch was owned by an Idaho family for 50 years before a pair of couples, including financier Steve and architect Courtney Knapp of Philadelphia, purchased it in 2007. There are four guest rooms in the lodge and 17 cabins that surround it. Our cabin (No. 11) had plenty of room and modern amenities, like the Oakley stone in the showers.

Woodall's trailering parks and campgrounds

... MH Village-Carey Irunswick Lake Rec Club— Brunswick luccaneer Campsites— ... Wapakonete Lake View Recreation Pk - Lancaster Lake Wapusun— Loudonville ...

The encyclopedia of Louisville

Golf at the Louisville Country Club, 1912. where he was a starting player in ... home was located on the fourth fairway of the old Valley View Golf Club. ...

Glenferrie Hill Recreation Club, a memoir 1907-2001

At the outbreak of war, under the Nettlefold presidency, the Club was geared ... £3000 mortgage to be transferred from Equity Trustees to Mooney Valley Pty. ...

Fun with the Family Las Vegas, 4th

With numerous canine trials, training, and club meetings for dog lovers, ... Fre • Valley View Recreation Center. 500 Harris Street; (702) 267-4060. Free. ...

Esquire

Don Radke, former president of the Valley View Recreation Club, ... Every summer , his nudist club holds its Nude car Show outside Cambridge, Wisconsin. ...