Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25059
'. TEXT AND PHOTOS: WILL t' .� . .. ' ' ,:- ' . � • r-'--' - �--W-h- THERE ARE CERTAIN PLACES ON EARTH FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN THE PEO- PLE WHO VISIT THEM. THE MAIN CANYON ON THE CLARKS FORK OF THE YELLOWSTONE, IN NORTHERN WYOMING NEAR CODY, IS SUCH A PLACE. THROUGH THE CANYON RUNS PERHAPS THE WILDEST RIVER IN THE UNITED STATES, AND ONE OF THE MOST REMOTE. IN THE 1870S, CHIEF JOSEPH OUT WITTED THE US CAVALRY FOR WEEKS BY SNEAKING HIS NEZ PERCE INDIANS ALONG THE UPPER CANYON, AND NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED TODAY. • CLARKS FO'RK- • .'� - . . � _ '" >�.� :.. . _ . .� • • /;to say-a group including Yvon Chouinard had reportedly done the first descent in six days of tech- ': nical portages, it was sure death, it was impossible at low water. The list went on but hard facts were ::�scarce-in an age when almost every creek in the US I - - n- B- I knew little beyond the basics when I and two friends arrived at the put-in: The run was • 25 miles long, took at least three days, and once in the main canyon you would need a helicopter has a guide book. ; to leave-but it was too narrow in places for a chopper. The canyon was dark, almost mystical-sheer rock walls thousands of feet high, thick for ,est, a river with more air than water in it from pounding off rocks. We didn't know what was down stream, if the canyon ended in a sure-death cave, just flat-out didn't know. Perhaps Lewis and Clark felt this way, but it's a rare feeling today. The crux for us was a spot where the canyon necked down, and a large block of dark rock ing water to an eddy. Alii could do was lie on the deck of my boat and gasp painfully. We made it off the river battered and bruised, and slept huddled on a ledge when dark ,. .. � ',' : I .Jo J' --� . 'r:.·:.'.�.r· ... .� 7} · .. I.:" " tr .... . . . .' , . - .. I,-J" ...c: � , .. �... . • .. � '�J .�:.� -.i. .... � .. .. _ .. � ..... t :. " . -"He ..' �. .; � ... . ..... � " • • ,e. . .... =� . ' . • . . ::, .. • • 41 � I . .� .. .('. ,"', ' .... �-� � ;.:' ,.·b' t::.J . . 1. _ . ... �"'W:·.r·-:"'; . � .:�. .. . . �I"*'I:.i I.�: ;-.�, tt . .. .. . , : \ .� :c: if I . �,\S T' _ .. .� ,10 I r.t .. . ' 's0 � . J . . :. �.' �'��"-� .. �.: ! Jt.: .. '�'. ,-'. � . ::'-t:..". _.: L . . � .. : '�'�. �' ... , ' ',; ... It, _ ' ::. .... . : . '0' �: 10' ...... • " .-: • "+ �". �. : '- \ . ,..�·-�. �.' ".r. ,fa," :- . 'to ... . �"'" �;,_. ,.' ": ( . ' • ,- < -;. r' ... . p' , • . " . tossing me and my boat into the air before dragging us deep under water. I escaped, still in my boat; , the next drop probably would have killed me had I swam. I struggled across the flat but fast-mov ness caught us. Despite failing our attempt to run the entire river in a day, the trip is one of my strongest memories. My body still clenches whenever I think of the run; not out of fear, just accep tance that the Clarks Fork is far stronger than I'll ever be, and that it will always be there waiting should I choose to go back .• I .� split the river. The right wall was sheer rock. There was no way to scout the drop ahead-but we knew it was big because of the spray rising in small geysers. My friends had clean runs, but I ' ' wound up in a violent recirculating hole. It chewed on me, " - . , J I • W· ...:'4i! .. ';�- • � ... ... . .. L - I' " 4 .'J- ... ' .. 1 , , . -