Musicians Moors and McCumber Play on the Sept 1-6, 2018 Middle Fork of the Salmon River trip this summer! Please join them and all the musical fun imaginable on this amazing trip!
http://www.moorsandmccumber.com/video/
Check out the video above and we hope to see you on this departure. There are only 6 spaces open so please call soon if you want to attend this amazing musical mystery tour!
Happy to be a part of this. If you have any free time this next year I would suggest contacting John and sign up for a trip.
For More Information go to: http://www.wantokadventures.com
Brief descriptions of the trips follow, in chronological order. If you have questions or would like the detailed itineraries for any of these trips contact:
John Yost at wantokwhitenile@gmail.com for more information.
**’Tis the season, so I’m throwing in a bonus gift. If you sign up for one of these trips below, you’ll also receive a signed copy of Rivergods, the seminal coffee table book that recounts the early Sobek exploratories.
World Rivers: Morocco March 24 – April 4, 2018
A new and improved version of this old favorite, with day trips on two new rivers to go with the rollicking three-day Ahanssel River canyon. Still featured are the Atlas Mountains, the magic of Marrakech, souks, Berber towns and forts, and the Sahara by camel back. Guaranteed departure
NEW! World Rivers: Iran May 8 – 20, 2018
Yes, Iran. On the edge of this largely desert country are mountains and rivers. We raft four of them, visit the attractions of Tehran and Isfahan, enjoy home stays with local Iranians, and immerse ourselves in the wonders of ancient Persia. Only four spaces left!
The Tons River, India May 26 – June 6, 2018
We’ve listed this Class IV+ whitewater wonder before but this trip is special, a commemorative journey celebrating the first descent of the river led by the late Sobek guide Jack Morison. We warm up by rafting the Ganges, hike briefly into the Himalayas, raft the Tons in three sections broken up with stays in a mountain lodge, and experience a little-visited corner of India.
NEW! World Rivers: Japan June 16 – 24, 2018
Not just any part of Japan but its last remaining wilderness on the northern island of Hokkaido. We raft four sparkling mountain streams, hike in two of Japan’s finest national parks, spend the nights soaking at hot springs inns, eat great Japanese food, and get a taste of the culture that makes Japan special.
NEW! Honduras River Exploratory August 18 – 28, 2018
These days it’s surprising to find even a creek that a raft hasn’t found, but this is much more than that. 125 miles of wild river, mainly Class III with a few IVs for good measure, that we’ve checked out by kayak. Most of this has never been rafted so this is a very rare opportunity to participate in a significant first raft descent.
World Rivers: Guatemala September 1 – 11, 2018
Each time we run this trip we find a way to improve it, but this time we’ve outdone ourselves, adding a fourth river and a fabulous limestone cavern, eliminating 12+ hours of driving, and keeping Tikal, the Afro-Caribbean coast, Lago Izabal, Spanish colonial forts and architecture, the mountains and the rainforest.
NEW! Rio Usumacinta, Guatemala/Mexico November 17 – 29, 2018
The River of the Sacred Monkey has been run for decades but is new to Wantok. It’s a week of Class II-III boating featuring day-long visits to two major Mayan ruins, the rainforest of the Peten, lovely landscapes and great campsites plus an expert Mayan archaeologist to enhance our appreciation of the wonders we see.
A note from your rafting guide: If you’re hankering for one of our classic adventures, please remember that for groups of four or more we can operate any of them, from expeditions like the Zanskar or Karnali rivers to World Rivers programs in Peru, Croatia, Ecuador and more. Just let us know your dreams and we’ll help you live them.
See you on the rivers,
John
Contact John Yost at wantokwhitenile@gmail.com for more information.
We are excited to partner with Wilderness and Travel Medicine this summer. If you are a doctor and need credits for your continued education this is the best way to get those credits you need and most definately the most fun!!
Wilderness and Travel Medicine specializes in the highest quality expedition, travel, and wilderness medicine CME conferences for medical professionals. Our courses prepare participants to become more adept at rendering emergency medical care in wilderness environments, which can be remote and austere. These courses are also excellent preparation for medical problems associated with foreign travel, medical missions, and disasters.
Our Wilderness Medicine conferences have earned a reputation of excellence for over 25 years largely on the strength of our world-class faculty. Another unique strength is the emphasis on more practical topics and workshops. We are also the largest provider of CME conferences in adventure travel locations worldwide.
We are gratified that many of our participants rate our CME courses as “the best” and return year after year! (see our testimonials). We hope you can join us!
Please see more info at
https://www.wilderness-medicine.com/default.asp?pg=courses_idaho
Also go to our partner for this trip Bio Bio Expeditions.
Middle Fork River Expeditions has been in business for over 60 years and that is no coincidence. MFRE was chosen as one of the top 3 river outfitters in the world by National Geographic Adventure magazine in 2008 and 2009. We focus on our guests experience to not just see the river from a distance, but to experience it intimately with the leadership of experienced guides. With over 70% of our guests as past clients or referrals from past river travellers we guarantee a world-class river adventure. Our mission is to allow river travellers the opportunity to unplug from modern society and reconnect to oneself, family, and friends through nature’s lens. This adventure allows you to have a digital detox from technology and reconnect to a more simple and fulfilling pace of life. There is no Wi- Fi in the wilderness, but we promise you will find a much deeper connection.
Our equipment is specially designed for wilderness whitewater rafting, and offers mild and wild boat choices (oar boats, paddle boats, inflatable kayaks and stand up paddle boards). Our river guides are seasoned professionals, licensed by the state of Idaho and First Aid and Swiftwater Rescue Certified. They are expert river runners, magnificent cooks, great storytellers, and knowledgeable, helpful outdoorsmen and friends.
Join Middle Fork River Expeditions for a magical wilderness river vacation this summer!
We are so lucky to have Musicians Joe Craven and Keith Greeninger join MFRE this summer! The trip date is Aug 16-21 and it is sure to be an amazing trip with these two musical wizards. They are joining for some amazing music on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. This trip is just announced and is going to fill up fast, so give us a call and we can hold the space for you. We hope to see you on this magical mystery tour this summer!
Here ye, here ye! Holiday River Expeditions and Middle Fork River Expeditions have begun a new chapter in their partnership; now allowing Holiday to continue offering world-class trips on the Main as well as the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. We at holiday don’t choose our partners lightly; we feel anyone who we would book for must meet a high bar and have some key trappings of Holiday’s ethic and service baked into their own operation. That brings me to the story of James Ellsworth.
James, a 5th generation Utahn, spent much of his childhood water-logged in 10 man military surplus rubber-rafts that his grandfather would use to take float trips with his Salt Lake City based company’s employees. These rouge “business retreats” were a great excuse for James to sneak out into nature and a spark for wild rivers was ignited. He spent a number of years guiding on the Salt River and working towards a Masters in Geomorphology, studying sand-bars in the Grand Canyon. Eventually, time in the classroom was eclipsed by the sheer awe of ‘doing the thing’ and living his life on rivers. So in 1993 he found his way to Holiday River Expeditions where he angled for one of a few coveted guide positions in that years batch of candidates. He knew his years of experience guiding on the Salt wouldn’t do him much good and ironically be seen as a count against him, as Holiday guides truly excelled when they learned the “Holiday Way” from the start. Yet Ellsworth’s background in geology and as he says “asking the question ‘what’s happening?!’” earned him a spot on the team due to Holiday River founder Dee Holladay’s persistent emphasis on interpretation.
During Ellsworth’s tenure at Holiday Tim Gaylord, Holiday’s Operations Manager recalled “he certainly showed his ability to grasp our concepts, and quickly moved through the ranks to become a trip leader” James even started to influence Dee and the “Holiday-Way” when he piloted our first draft at a compost system. On river James would collect food scraps and then make a short stop along the shuttle drive back to headquarters to visit the local Green River horses along Hastings Road and give them a humble feast.
“FRED”- THE MONKEY GETTING INTO TROUBLE AS USUAL, DURING A BOAT-YARD POOL-PARTY.
His love of animals was notoriously remembered by Holiday staff; as he had a Bonnet Macaque monkey named Fred who lived at the headquarters one summer. Fred would get into all kinds of trouble, including deflating the air on the boat-trailer spare-tires by pushing the needle valve in and blowing pressurized air into his mouth. He was also quite an escape artist, once found relentlessly honking the horn of a U-haul truck down at the John Wesley Powell River History Museum surrounded by a crowd of confused tourists. In any case, James’ love of the wild led him to continuing his life’s work in the wilderness beyond Holidays shores and also left Holiday with a newly instituted “Pet Policy”.
In 1997, James headed to Mountain Travel Sobek where he spent the better part of a decade on the administrative end of an outfitting company; managing hundreds of employees all over the world and taking point behind the scenes for multiple first descents. While getting a feel for the back-end operations with Sobek, James found himself up in Stanley Idaho acquiring a permit on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Once he had a taste for crystal-clear Idaho rivers, he couldn’t leave. Meeting with veteran river-outfitter and founder of Middle Fork River Expeditions, Pat Ridle, he expressed interest in a dream of someday running his own outfit out of the quiet town of Stanley; and not a year later, in 2007 Pat was calling James back to pass the torch of Middle Fork River Expeditions to the next generation of boaters; thus the present day outfit was born.
After acquiring a Main Salmon permit MFRE was a dual river trip company; able to offer exhilarating more adult focused Middle Fork trips in the earlier season as well as integrated family friendly trips on the Main Salmon, having its best months in the latter half of the summer. James has spent the past decade shaping MFRE with the skills James had acquired at both Holiday and Sobek, including a full-scale renovation of the original boat-house in Stanley. Now in 2017, with James acquiring the final touch to his new boat-house, Holiday Idaho’s original ice-making machine, Middle Fork River Expeditions sits perfectly positioned as a northern partner to Holiday’s Colorado Plateau based river trips.
James has maintained many of the same ethical standards he had while guiding for Holiday, one of the most important of which is a commitment to motorless trips. With a fleet of entirely oar-powered craft, MFRE trips are following in the oar-strokes of Dee Holladay, using this quiet and intimate way of transportation to better enjoy the hush of nature and the truly incredible alpine wilderness both sections of the Salmon River cut through.
Both of these river trips garner their own respect for similar reasons; both stretches have clear water, great fishing, thrilling whitewater, ponderosa forested shorelines and a smattering of epic hot-springs. However there are hallmark differences between the Middle and Main: While the Middle Fork is a narrow gorge and has literally hundreds of rapids, the Main opens up to more spacious big white sand beaches. The Middle Fork noted for its pristine wilderness aesthetic also contrasts with the frontier homesteads along the Main; places like the outpost of the infamous Buckskin Bill or more modern land stewards like Doug and Phyllis Tim’s homestead. Each waypoint with its own charm and character to add to the overall wilderness experience.
Us river-guides like to speak in terms of systems… ecosystems to be more specific. In this way, James Ellsworth and Middle Fork River Expeditions has become a niche species for us: highly skilled and specialized for alpine Idaho river adventures, while we at Holiday River compliment that in the canyon-country wild rivers we run in Utah and Colorado’s boundless backcountry. We look forward to seeing where this new network of old connections take us from here.
Middle Fork River Expeditions (MFRE) partners with Holiday River Expeditions (HRE) to be their exclusive Idaho Affiliate, offering river trips on the Middle Fork and Main Salmon Rivers.
Here is a link to the HRE Blog.
It is an honor to work with Holiday River Expeditions. I worked with HRE from 1993 to 1998. And once a Holiday boatman it’s part of your DNA.
Guess what?
Moors and McCumber Music Trip Announced Sept 1-6, 2018!
Go to: http://www.moorsandmccumber.com/rafting-trip/
James Moors and Kort McCumber grew up in different places and listening to different kinds of music – classical, rock, bluegrass, you name it. But when they met ten years ago they knew they’d found something golden. Since then, they’ve been cultivating their wide-ranging musical influences in songs that delve into love and life through haunting lyrics, soaring harmonies, and dazzling instrumental proficiency. As Grammy award-winning producer Lloyd Maines puts it, “These guys should be playing every major festival in the country. They bring it all to the stage and deliver it in a big way.”
An Interview with James Moors & Kort McCumber
October 2015
How and when did you two meet? And why did you start performing together?
KM: We met in 2005 at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Song School. It’s an inspirational place that’s all about developing your songwriting. People were swapping songs, and when it came around to James, he played one of his original songs. It was amazing, so partway through, I joined in on bouzouki and harmony vocals. Afterwards, we introduced ourselves, and not long after that, we decided to try performing together.
JM: We were both pursuing solo careers at the time. I invited Kort to join me for a few of my shows, and I joined him for some of his shows. That evolved into booking more shows together, and it went so well, we decided to make the duo a priority.
KM: You can play with so many different people, but when you find somebody you really click with and your voices blend in that perfect way, you know the universe is telling you something. When we started performing together, people kept coming up after the show and saying, “I want the CD of what I just heard.” They didn’t want our solo stuff; they wanted records with both of us. So we said, “Let’s make a record together and start booking as a duo. So we did. In the fall of 2011, we did our first tour in Ireland together, and when we came home, we made our second record, Gravity. At that point, we felt like this was something for real.
Has your collaboration changed over time?
JM: Early on, we were playing in bars and other noisy places where people were only paying half attention to the music. That wasn’t what we wanted, so we decided to quit playing bars and focus on performing in places where it’s all about the music.
KM: Working together as a duo also really opened up songwriting and performing for both of us. We started writing songs together, and now most of our songs are co-written. When we met, James sang lead and only played guitar, and now we both sing lead and harmony and play a bunch of instruments, including guitar, ukulele, mandolin, bouzouki, harmonica, and many more. That makes for a much more dynamic show than when we first started.
What makes your collaboration work?
KM: James is an amazing lyricist, melody writer, and lead singer. I love singing harmony and adding all the bells and whistles to the songs through arrangement and instrumentation. We both respect each other’s strengths and fight for what we think will make a great song.
JM: I think we have complementary strengths, and we’ve definitely learned a lot from each other. Kort’s perfect world is play a different instrument on every song. Mine is to sit down with a melody in my head and start writing the words. If I were still just doing my own thing, maybe my songs would sound more alike, and for sure there would be fewer instruments. He’s taught me a lot of different instruments, and I’ve gotten him into writing more lyrics. In addition to collaborating well as songwriters, our voices also harmonize really well. Some people tell us they can’t tell which one is singing lead and which one is singing harmony.
KM: It’s like sibling harmony, which you rarely find outside of a family.
JM: I also realized something recently. Years ago, I was organizing a music festival and one of the groups hadn’t shown up. I was getting really stressed. Five minutes before they were supposed to go on, these guys drove up, talking and laughing, and they didn’t look the least bit worried. One guy took out his guitar and the other took out his mandolin, and they just went up on stage and started playing. No sound check or anything. It was like the conversation they’d been having was continuing on stage. That is what it’s like for us now. When we step on stage, the performance is an extension of who we are and what we’ve been talking about.
How do you practice when you live in different places?
JM: We are doing about 120 shows a year as a duo, which adds up to about 180 days total, including the travel, so we’re spending about half the year together. That gives us a lot of time to work on new songs and arrangements.
KM: I think spending so much time writing and playing together is why we are so tight. We are constantly trying new things, and it’s all about making the songs better. James will say, “Here’s something I just wrote, do you want to work on it?” I might say, “Why not try it on ukulele or add a little cello?” That builds chemistry, and it makes us excited about the new songs as well as older songs. Nothing sounds exactly the same from one time to the next. We revisit songs and arrangements all the time.
What’s your music about?
KM: Our songs are about love and loss, and about trying to navigate this crazy life. We also touch on what is going on in the world. The political climate. War. Hard times that face the common man.
JM: We are also both interested in history and geography and about the people we meet along the way. All of that finds its way into our songs.
What kinds of music did you gravitate to when you were growing up? How about now?
JM: The first songs I remember listening to on my parents’ stereo were “I Write the Songs” by Barry Manilow and “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell. Later, my brother and I would pretend we were musicians, air jamming to Pink Floyd and the Beatles. My mom often had the top 40 station playing in the car, and luckily in those days it was Paul McCartney and Wings, Neil Diamond, and the Bee Gees. In high school, I discovered the local music scene in Minneapolis and started listening to The Replacements, The Flaming Oh’s, and the Suburbs. After college, I heard a live Shawn Colvin tape where I could really hear her in those songs, and that lit the fire for me to start writing about what I was feeling and going through in my life. Since then, I’ve been drawn to songwriters who write songs you can hear yourself living in, like Ron Sexsmith, Tom Waits, Neil Finn of Crowded House, and Gary Louris of the Jayhawks.
KM: My musical upbringing was totally different. I grew up playing piano and cello and listening to classical music. Neither of my parents were into folk, rock and roll, blues, country, etc. It wasn’t til later that I started listening to all of that. When I got to college, I got hooked on Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Police, Sting, U2. Then, when I turned 20, I bought an acoustic guitar and started teaching myself songs by Neil Young, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. When I started playing bar gigs in Gainesville, Florida, I listened to more folk music and singer/songwriters – people like Ellis Paul, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, Darrell Scott, Tim O’Brien. They helped me learn how to be a better lyricist. Now I listen to a lot of Stephen Stills, The Band, Levon Helm, Allmann Brothers, and Sting, and a lot of Irish traditional music also.
How would you describe your sound?
KM: I guess you’d call it Americana or roots music. We incorporates elements of various American roots music styles, including country, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B and blues. More recently, we’ve also been influenced heavily by Irish music.
JM: We don’t have a song that’s 100 percent country. Or rock. Or bluegrass. We are hitting on a lot of these things, but our records aren’t “one of each.” All of these different influences that have shaped each of us are blended together.
What are some of your favorite times performing together?
JM: I really enjoy playing towns we’ve never played before; they just have a different energy. In terms of bigger shows, the Kerrville Folk Festival in May 2014 was a really special performance. How we got there is an interesting story. There was a terrible flood in Colorado, and Kort had to evacuate. We got together and wrote a great song and played it for the director of Kerrville Folk Festival, and she asked us to perform on the main stage. We were both really on that night, and the crowd was right there with us. Our Blue Rock show in Wimberley, TX in April 2015 was also a magical night. Then a
Another time, we were doing a fundraiser in Dallas and the person organizing it knew I loved the Jayhawks, so he invited the lead singer, Gary Louris, to play with us. The next day, we were swapping songs, and a couple of weeks later, I asked if he would produce our next CD. Who knew that would happen?
KM: If you allow yourself to be present in the world and stay ready, incredible things happen.
How do people respond when you play?
JM: I think people really respond to the fact that we are friends and having a great time on stage playing music together. We’ve heard from a lot of people how a song gave them chills, made them cry, laugh, smile. How a song made them think of a loved one who has passed, or who they miss.
KM: When we sell a bunch of CDs at a show, that tells us the crowd was really into it. I love it when we play a great concert and people say that it was the best show they’ve ever been to. That feels really good.
Why do you like going to Ireland so much?
KM: We feel at home there, and it’s not only because I have Irish blood in my veins. It’s also because they have such a deep appreciation for musicians and singers and writers. When you share a verse with someone over there, they say “please sing me another one, and let me share one with you.” Also, much of the music we gravitate toward has its roots in Irish melodies: rock and folk and bluegrass. What predates Americana? Irish music.
JM: Lots of musicians say there’s no other place like Ireland for music, and it’s true.
KM: Some of our most memorable performances have been in Ireland. I will always remember playing at McGann’s pub in Doolin. We were sitting under a poster of the incredible Liam Clancy, and it felt unreal. Another time, when we performed at the Courthouse Pub in Dingle, the owner closed the shutters and kept the place open after hours because nobody wanted to leave. We loved it that people were having such a good time, they wanted to keep going.
What’s your next CD going to be like?
JM: Given how dynamic our live performances are, we thought it would be nice to have a live record, so we decided to record a show and see what happened. In April 2015, we performed at the Blue Rock in Wimberley, Texas, with about 100 people in the audience. They were a great crowd. When we went back and listened to the recording, it was spot on.
KM: We were originally planning to pick only 10 tracks from that night, but everything sounded so good, we decided to use all 22 songs from the show. That will become our next CD, Live at the Blue Rock.
What’s on your wish list for the future?
KM: I think #1 would be playing at the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest. It’s a dear place to a lot of people I’ve met and worked with, including James. We know we’re ready for it. Telluride, Red Rocks, and Newport would be amazing too.
JM: We would love to play for 100-500 people every night because we could reach more people per show. But honestly, it isn’t just one thing that we’re looking for. We get so much from any audience that wants to be present with us. So whether it’s 20 people in a living room or 20,000 at a big festival, doing our thing for people who want to be there makes life worth living.
KM: We want to keep doing this for a very long time, and we want to be present and relish it while we’re doing it. That’s what keeps us moving forward.
Darrell Scott Jam is on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River Aug 16-21, 2017, which is next week! We had a last minute cancellation so there is one more space for a lucky person to join us! Please contact us through our website at www.idahorivers.com and go to the “Contact Us” section of the website. This is going to be a trip of a lifetime. We hope to see you soon!
Go to http://www.darrellscott.com/event/darrell-scott-river-jam-salmon-river-idaho/ for more information. 
Yes we did it again. MFRE Named Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence!
Middle Fork River Expeditions has been in business for over 60 years and that is no coincidence. MFRE was chosen as one of the top 3 river outfitters in the world by National Geographic Adventure magazine in 2008 and 2009. We focus on our guests experience to not just see the river from a distance, but to experience it intimately with the leadership of experienced guides. With over 70% of our guests as past clients or referrals from past river travellers we guarantee a world-class river adventure. Our mission is to allow river travellers the opportunity to unplug from modern society and reconnect to oneself, family, and friends through nature’s lens. This adventure allows you to have a digital detox from technology and reconnect to a more simple and fulfilling pace of life. There is no Wi- Fi in the wilderness, but we promise you will find a much deeper connection.
Our equipment is specially designed for wilderness whitewater rafting, and offers mild and wild boat choices (oar boats, paddle boats, inflatable kayaks and stand up paddle boards). Our river guides are seasoned professionals, licensed by the state of Idaho and First Aid and Swiftwater Rescue Certified. They are expert river runners, magnificent cooks, great storytellers, and knowledgeable, helpful outdoorsmen and friends.
Join Middle Fork River Expeditions for a magical wilderness river vacation this summer!
With Snowpack at 157% of Normal, expect some awesome whitewater rafting this summer on the Middle Fork of the Salmon and Main Stem of the Salmon Rivers. The SWE or Snow Water Equivelant is the highest it has been since 1013 when they first began records. A lot depends on how the snow melts fort the watershed, but the rivers usually hit peak flows around June 1. We have a June 2 launch which will be a lot of fun on some high water!! Come join us!
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