Going the Distance

KAVU legend- Tyler Bradt, joins a group of close friends to attempt the 24 hour Distance record for most miles traveled in their kayaks

By KAVU

July 4^th, 2017

Footage and imagery contributed by Aniol Serrasolses, Todd Wells, Brendan Wells

Mountain Mind Collective

From high in the Sawtooth mountains begins the the Salmon River - one of the wildest, most remote watersheds in the U.S.

From where Marsh creek crosses Highway 21 - near Stanley Idaho, the river begins its journey by dropping nearly 6,000 feet through the largest US wilderness area in the lower 48 states..

dreaming of the day

Fueled by a ten year record snow pack, along with a longtime dream of connecting the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, to the Main Salmon, and finally to the Lower Salmon in a single day, we were keen to finally make this dream a reality! Conditions lined up perfectly for us to hit the peak of "high water" on June 2nd 2017 - my 31st birthday - for our 24 hour world-record distance attempt.

It's all about friends

Our team for this mission was comprised of Brendan and Todd Wells, Aniol Serrasolses, and myself. Being with these guys on the river made it that much more inspiring to be attempting this record. Good paddlers, and even better friends!

The day began early at the headwaters of Marsh Creek. As we pealed out of the eddy at exactly 8:01 am, the high, cold alpine forest was enveloped in low clouds. The river picked up in volume quickly. Almost 9 hours later, we came to confluence of the Salmon River, thousands of feet lower and now raging at nearly 100,000 CFS.

....at the headwaters of Marsh Creek. We pealed out of the starting eddy at exactly 8:01 am, high in a cold alpine forest enveloped in low clouds. The river picked up volume quickly and 9 hours later we came to confluence of the Salmon River - thousands of feet lower - and now running at nearly 100,000 CFS!

Darkness fell at the confluence of the South Fork of the Salmon and we took our only 15 minute break to put on glow sticks and headlamps before beginning our journey through the night.

KAVU mission

Talk about using every minute of every day.....As the moon set a few hours before sunrise, we pushed through the hardest section of the expedition. It was wild, to say the least but when the sun came up a couple hours later, 287.5 miles down river from where we'd started, we pulled over and crawled out of our kayaks, legs hardly functioning after sitting in our boats for so long.

memories made......fun had

Feeling nothing but pain and happiness we went to sleep in the morning sun before paddling out the finial 40 miles to Heller Bar on the Snake River. This was a mission we'll not soon forget!

busy livin'

Life is an opportunity to experience all that fascinates and inspires us. For me, this was a quintessential KAVU day. Tomorrow is an opportunity for another. What's your KAVU day like? Go out and get it!!