What to Expect
Day Prior to Your Launch Date
Travel to Missoula, Montana, Check in at the Doubletree Hotel Edgewater (lodging not included in trip price). Attend Orientation Meeting at 6:00PM. Ask at the Front Desk for location of the Meeting. At the meeting you will be given 2 dry bags to pack all of your personal gear for the river trip. If you plan to fish on the trip, you will need an Idaho fishing license.
Day 1
All guests meet in the Hotel Lobby at 7:00AM. Prior to 7:00AM you should have breakfast (not included) and check out at the Front Desk. The Hotel has a closet where you can lock up any extra baggage you will not be taking with you on the river. If you drove to Missoula, you car can be parked in the hotel lot.
All guests and river gear will load in the SOAR Northwest bus. We will drive four hours to the river with several stops on the way. Stops will be made in Hamilton, MT for licenses and adult beverages. We will stop at the Ranger Station for our permit. You may purchase a waterproof map of the river at the Ranger Station for $10.00 (except weekends). We arrive at the river at 12-1:00.
The guides will already be at the launch site (appropriately called “Paradise”) and will have our lunch prepared. You will be given a life jacket and safety talk, then launch on the River at approximately 1:30PM. 1st night’s camp is usually reached by 4:00PM. We will set tents up with you and dinner will be ready at 8:00PM.
Day 2
Coffee is served at 7:00AM and breakfast at 8:00AM. We take down camp and pack the rafts for a departure around 10:30AM. We stop for lunch about 12:30PM. We usually arrive at our next camp around 4:00PM. Tonight’s camp will be our camp for two nights. We are at Moose Creek, with access to multiple hiking, fishing and exploring opportunities. A historic ranger station is nearby. The river library has barely been touched and you left your last worries several miles back up river.
Day 3
Layover. Rest, relax, hike, fish, explore, enjoy the wonders of the millions of acres of Wilderness stretching in every direction.
Day 4
Launch at 10:30AM and run the “Moose Juice” – some of the best whitewater of the trip. Soon after the biggest thrills we stop for lunch. Afternoon we float on through more rapids to your camp.
Day 5
River-time has set in. The routine is established, the awe is inspiring. Rest, relax, boat, fish, breath, smell, and enjoy the Wilderness.
Day 6
More rapids await just below camp, but you are a veteran now. We start a little earlier, about 9:00AM, trying to forget that out ahead is a return to civilization and the end of your Selway River Experience. We reach the “take-out” at about noon. Lunch and the SOAR Northwest bus is there waiting for us. We drive along the last 20 miles of the Selway River, then turn east on Hwy 12, up along the Lochsa River, over Lolo Pass, back to Missoula. Arrival at the Hotel is usually around 6:00PM.
Day 7
Check out. Travel arrangements to your home or further vacation plans. Shuttle available from the Hotel to the Missoula Airport.
Additional Information
Weather Conditions
If necessary due to water conditions, we may go to the Hamilton, Montana airport for a backcountry flight into an airstrip on the Selway River. A flight into the river is required when water conditions prohibit safe passage on the upper 13 miles of river. In these conditions there will be an additional $150 flight fee per person. The flight is short, but spectacular and gives you a remarkable perspective on the thousands of square miles of wilderness that surround your Selway River adventure.
Air Service to Missoula
Northwest, Delta, United and Alaska/Horizon Airlines provide commercial air service to Missoula. Lodging in Missoula: We have reserved space at the Doubletree Edgewater Hotel for our guests
Hotel Bookings
We have blocked rooms for you at the Double Tree Hotel in Missoula, Montana. Rooms have been blocked at a discounted company rate (not included in trip cost). You will be responsible to contact the hotel prior to June 1st to reserve a room(s) under your name. A free shuttle to and from the Hotel and the airport is available. There are contact phones in baggage claim at the Missoula airport to call for a shuttle to the hotel. The Doubletree is a Hilton Hotel, offering the best accommodations in Missoula. There is a quality restaurant on site, and it is located on the Clark Fork River with excellent walking paths from the hotel to downtown and nearby Univ. of Montana.