WWA Hog Fest
The weather is warming, the snow is melting and it is that time of year when I start looking forward to the Western Whitewater Associations annual Hog Fest along the Snake River in Glenn’s Ferry.
This years event will be help March 14th at the Three Island Crossing recreation area in Glenn’s Ferry, in the lower campground. There are usually a fair number of people that come down and camp Friday night with a lot of socializing going on.
The Jet Boat run will be Saturday morning with boats starting to launch around 8:00 a.m. They will usually try to get the groups somewhat organized Friday night at the campground with times for each group to leave the ramp in the morning, so everyone is not trying to launch at the same time. This attempt at organization is not always very smooth, so be forewarned!
It is a good idea to find the run chairperson when you arrive to get the low down on what is going on.
The jet boats will run up river in groups of 3 to 5 boats (sometimes more) to a point bellow Peg Leg rapid and come back down in the afternoon. Saturday nights dinner starts around 6:00 p.m. with the WWA providing the pig and asking those attending to bring side dishes. It is usually one awesome dinner.
This is not a real difficult run, and probably one of the better suited stretches of river for newer boaters. BUT, BUT, BUT – this is not to say there are not hazards along this stretch of the Snake River. If you don’t know this river there are places where you can get into trouble quickly. Castle Rock Rapid and Palmers Rock are not much in the way of whitewater but both have managed to inflict their fair share of damage to boats. And there is also the occasional boat getting stuck in a sand bar in the middle of the river, and as heavy as these boats are they are not a lot of fun getting unstuck.
This water, like any other, does warrant caution as always. Link to flyer