BOISE, Idaho-
Teams of explosives technicians from the U.S. Forest Service blasted a logjam on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.
The action should allow rafters–stranded since Monday by the pileup of 30-foot-long logs, as well as boulders and debris–to float through, Forest Service officials told the Idaho Statesman newspaper.
The logjam temporarily blocked about 200 rafters from passing through a remote stretch of wilderness, outfitters said.
The Middle Fork, a 100-mile stretch of water in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, is considered one of the most thrilling whitewater floats in the country.
The central Idaho waterway is accessible only to those with permits.
After the blast, crews continued working with ropes and hand tools, moving several remaining logs. As many as 60 logs had plugged the river at the Pistol Creek Rapids.
The Forest Service planned to scout the river first to make sure the path was clear before sending the rafters through.
The pileup clogged the river in a remote canyon, not far from the launching point for many commercial rafting trips. The area was accessible only by an airstrip about 1.5 miles away or rustic horse trail.
Meanwhile, one outfitter, Mackay Wilderness River Trips, decided to pay to fly clients on an air taxi to the Middle Fork Lodge downriver. A group of about 24 planned to resume rafting from there.
"We are not going to leave any sooner than we have to," Walt Rotkis of Seattle, a client, told the newspaper. "We love Idaho."
Traves Olsen, a guide with Hughes River Expeditions, said his company decided to fly 23 customers to the Flying B Ranch, which also is downriver. The outfitter will transport seven new rafts by plane to the ranch.
"We are so far behind schedule, we have to use a plane to catch up," Olsen said.
Other outfitters used horses to pack out their gear.
