The purpose

In these lean times, when travel to far-flung corners of the earth makes a deep dent in the wallet, it makes sense to look for adventure closer to home. As active parents with successful careers who embark on occasional adventures, life is a balance. We feel fortunate to live in the Pacific Northwest, where our next grand adventure can be found virtually in our own backyard.

Our new pioneering route, in combination with our ultralight method of multisport travel, make a compelling argument for the idea that adventure is what you make it.

The trip will include these firsts:

· A new pioneering route across Idaho’s wildernesses

· The first known packraft descent of the Bruneau River

· The first known connection of the Middle Fork drainage with the Selway drainage

· The first known mountain bike traverse of the Stateline National Recreation Trail

· The first known multisport traverse of Idaho

The Timeline

The team will depart in June of 2011.

A significant logistical hurdle will be obtaining river permits from the U.S. Forest Service to run the Middle Fork of the Salmon and Selway rivers within our proposed expedition window. The rivers are tightly regulated, and permits are granted through a lottery application; we require two permits, one for each river. Our team is working with the Forest Service to obtain special permits to run both rivers outside the lottery while respecting this precious Wild and Scenic River treasure. Should we not lottery river permits, the team will depart September 1^st, immediately after river season closes and we can paddle with Forest Service permission.

In addition to the typical logistical preparations required for any expedition (travel logistics, packaging food, gear), the nature of this enterprise requires a significant amount of physical (and mental) training. In order to cover the proposed mileage in the allotted time, the team will need to be prepared to move an average of 60 miles a day without a break, and so will build the physical and mental calluses required to continue when it’s no longer fun. In preparation, the team will undertake several training trips noteworthy in their own right, including several non-stop, 48-hour mini-expeditions throughout Idaho, to hone skills under physical stress in the expected terrain.

Over the next few months, the Idaho Traverse team will also will grow an expedition social network presence on Twitter, Facebook and through our expedition blog. This will allow the team to continually push information out to our followers about our expedition, including stories and multimedia content about training trips, gear, expedition nutrition and our multisport ultralight method of travel.

The Route

Section 1: The Bruneau River [Map]

As the spring melt drains off of the northern Nevada steppe, the Bruneau River's alter-ego emerges, transforming the waterway from a sleepy winter trickle into roaring class 3 rapids. The Idaho Traverse team will time the start of the expedition with the tail of the Bruneau's flow, allowing the team to swiftly paddle the first 60 miles through desert canyons.

· Mode of travel: packraft

· Distance: 70 miles

· Time: 2 days

· Type of terrain: boxed canyons, class 3 wilderness river

· Average distance traveled per day: 30-40 miles

· Elevation profile: 5,500’ to 3,000’ = net -2,500 feet

Section 2: Snake River Plains [Map]

As the canyon widens and the river loses its momentum, we will trade our paddles for pedals and cycle 115 miles on our cyclocross bikes from the Bruneau to Featherville at the base of the foothills of the Sawtooth National Wilderness.

· Mode of travel: cyclocross bike

· Distance: 115 miles

· Time: 1 day

· Type of terrain: 2WD roads, 4WD dirt roads, single-track trail

· Elevation profile: +8,400, -4,350' = net + 4000 feet

Section 3: The Sawtooth Wilderness [Map]

Though not as high as its sister ranges the Pioneers, Boulders and Whiteclouds, the Sawtooths were chiseled by glaciers into jagged horns that prominently rip across the Stanley basin skyline, giving the range its name. Only 20 miles wide and 40 miles long, the Sawtooths pack a punch with 33 peaks over 10,000 feet and more than 200 alpine lakes, strong evidence of Idaho's rich glacial history. We will fastpack this spectacular country in two days to the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

· Mode of travel: foot

· Distance: 50 miles

· Time: 2 days

· Type of terrain: single-track wilderness trail

· Elevation profile: +9,450, -9,530 = net - 80 feet

Section 4: The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness [Map]

As we exit the Sawtooths and cross Highway 21, we'll transition into the nation's most extensive roadless area, The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Because it is off limits to vehicles and bikes, the fastest way through this land is to navigate the 100-plus miles of class 3 waters to the Salmon River by packraft. We will cross the Salmon, hike up and over to the headwaters of the Selway — touted as America's most pristine wilderness river experience — and paddle another 100 miles to Highway 12 for the final transition.

· Mode of travel: packraft and fastpack

· Distance: ~250 miles

· Time: 6 days

· Type of terrain: Class 3-4 wilderness river

· Elevation profile: +23,331’, -26,747’ = net -3,500'

Section 5: The Idaho Panhandle [Map a][Map b]

Where the Selway spills into the Clearwater, the team will leave the river system and join the official Idaho Centennial Trail by backcountry mountain biking. For the final leg of the traverse, we will ride the spine of the Bitterroot Range, straddling the Idaho/Montana border north to the Canadian line and completing the trip at the headwaters of the Upper Priest River. This leg will require that the team travels monster miles with ambitious climbs over unmarked and infrequently maintained trails.

· Mode of travel: mountain bike

· Distance: ~350 miles

· Time: 4 days

· Type of terrain: bushwhack, unmaintained trails, single-track, 4WD dirt road

· Elevation profile: +31,700, -31,892

Total: Nevada to Canada [Map Overview]

· Distance: ~840 miles; 465 miles by bike, 295 miles by raft, 80 miles on foot

· Days: 15

· Total elevation gain: ~72,500 feet

· Number of roads crossed: 6

The Project

Idaho offers world-class options for the adventurous during any season: dawn patrol before work in the winter, rejuvintating spring river boating, all-day mountain runs in the summer, spinning down single track through guilded stands of aspens in fall. The only limitations seem to be your fitness level and one's Personal Time Off account balance.

Longer than it is wide, Idaho stretches the length of both Washington and Oregon, crossing several ecosystems as it gains latitude. Deep canyons cut through the southern desert rhyolite, alpine peaks rip across the belly of the state, and lush forests blanket the northern mountains. With 4.7 million acres of wilderness area and an additional 12 million acres of roadless national forest, Idaho has more public land than any other state in the lower 48. That's more than 26,000 square miles, an area the size of the state of West Virginia. It’s no wonder Idaho is known as the Wilderness State.

Weaving 900 miles through the heart of it all is a loose patchwork of single-track fire and paved roads collectively dedicated as the Idaho Centennial Trail (or ICT) in 1990, the state’s centennial anniversary. The trail has been hiked continuously a handful of times, but bypasses the true jewels that the gem state has to offer.

Strong believers that adventure is where you find it, the team will pioneer a variation of the ICT during a 15-day multisport south-to-north speed traverse of Idaho in the summer of 2011. The 840-mile route will forge a new line through Idaho's most beautiful and wildly diverse sections while leveraging the natural efficiencies of the terrain, utilizing packrafts, mountain bikes and fastpacking techniques. Instead of hiking the high alpine desert, we will run the Bruneau River. Instead of hiking through the Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness, the team proposes to paddle both the Middle Fork of the Salmon and Selway rivers. Before finishing at the Canadian line, the expedition will cycle the Stateline National Recreation Trail. Each of these sections is worthy on its own. Put together, these adventures will truly test our skills and raise the bar for multisport travel.

Stay tuned to hear more about our training and route strategies as we near the 2011 trip departure date.