Carnage Fest

Trip Report:

April 27th we arrived at the Lochsa river in central Idaho around 7:30 pm. We immeadiately headed for "Pipeline", a retentive wave that holds true to its name. After an hour of surfing the sun began to melt beneath the horizon and it seemed our surf session was coming to a close. It was at this time that Jay had an exquisite idea to shine his car's fog lights down onto the wave.
With this beautiful idea we were able to surf the wave well into the night until our stomachs won us over and sent us back to the "Ghetto Gateway" campground.
The scene at the campground was ludicrous. There were close to a hundred people making their home at the usually empty campsite adjacent to the river. It resembled a festival more than a campsite. After a solid night of partying saturday morning was spent prepping 4 rafts and near 20 kayakers. It was quite an impressive sight to see our posse streched from one bend in the river to the next with no significant break. As the temperatures began to approach 80 the river began to swell, and the raft carnage became imminent. The highlight of the day was Lochsa Falls, where 3 out of the 4 of our rafts were flipped (spectacularly I might add). As for the kayakers there seemed to be an unlimited amount of surf waves to be caught and laughs to be had.
After a second run down the 9 mile non-stop wave train/big water lower section of the Lochsa we victoriously returned to our campsite to celebrate Blake's 21st Birthday. Everyone in our group (30+ people) enjoyed stories of raft carnage and big moves and sweet lines in kayaks.
Sunday was a similar scene as we got back on the river for another rowdy fun day. The water continued to rise and it was apparent as the waves became huge and rowdy surf sessions on Lochsa Falls were had by a few piss and vinegar paddlers.
In the end the weekend was a huge success, with our entire group leaving the river with thoughts of summer drifting through their heads. It was a great feeling to spark the summer flame at such a unique and fun place as the Lochsa for so many people who would otherwise have spent their weekends drinking in the bars in Bozeman. The weekend was spent soaking up the rays, cheering as rafts flipped, hooting as a kayaker surfed a gnarly wave, and laughing as someone did a booty beer. It truly was a weekend for the history books.