Gourmet Gorging - Rafting the Bruneau in Idaho

Written by Robert LaGrone


Gourmet Gorging – Rafting The Bruneau in Idaho Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Read this entire feature FREE with photos at:: http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/raft/bruneau/bruneau.html

When you look acrossrepparttar vast sagebrush prairie of southwestern Idaho,repparttar 105383 Bruneau River Gorge looks like a small arroyo inrepparttar 105384 distance. Fromrepparttar 105385 floor of that gorge, however,repparttar 105386 world looks stunningly different. The red-brown horizon is almost directly above you, so steep arerepparttar 105387 towering cliffs carved out byrepparttar 105388 river. Byrepparttar 105389 way, don't stare upward too long, or that big wave inrepparttar 105390 rapids directly ahead will tip you out of your raft for a nice, uh, invigorating swim.

This ribbon of snowmelt, fed byrepparttar 105391 smaller Jarbidge River upstream, flows throughrepparttar 105392 southwest corner ofrepparttar 105393 Gem State. Wilderness River Outfitters operates trips on these and many other rivers worldwide, although their home base is onrepparttar 105394 beautiful Salmon River in east-central Idaho. Joe Tonsmeire, a soft-spoken cowboy with a bushy grey mustache, has been guiding here with his wife Fran for 33 years, and they clearly love what they do.

Our adventure began in Boise, a pleasant capital city with its own scenic river. After a trip briefing and introductions all around, guides and guests went to a local brewpub restaurant for steaks and marionberry cobbler. One river guide, Kyle, collected on a wager: Tom, another guide, had bet that they couldn't fit all of their gear intorepparttar 105395 pickup truck before a previous river trip. Sounds more fun than video poker...

Speaking of trucks, Joe told us a tale from a past trip:repparttar 105396 dirt road climbing out ofrepparttar 105397 Owyhee River Gorge is so steep and rough thatrepparttar 105398 rear axle in one truck completely stripped its gears, andrepparttar 105399 vehicle had to be towed out ofrepparttar 105400 canyon. Trips like this are tough on vehicles. The story was evidently well known inrepparttar 105401 town of Mountain Home, where we stopped for gas and a stretch duringrepparttar 105402 six-hour trip to our put-in point. The man atrepparttar 105403 register asked, with a knowing chuckle, howrepparttar 105404 truck was doing. Kyle reassured us that Joe had seen every kind of unplanned event in his time, and I joked about jinxing our group by saying, "Great! Nothing can happen to us, then."

The spring sunshine warmed our shoulders as we waited byrepparttar 105405 gravel road forrepparttar 105406 other pickup truck to come to our rescue. Two simultaneous flat tires - what arerepparttar 105407 odds? Our driver Brad, an experienced wilderness survival instructor, helped passrepparttar 105408 time by showing us how to start a campfire without matches. We hoped this wasn't an indication of how long we might be here. Brad was here to deliverrepparttar 105409 Suburban torepparttar 105410 take-out point after we had unloaded it atrepparttar 105411 put-in. Soonrepparttar 105412 replacement pickup arrived, equipment and supplies were transferred, and as we got moving again, we elected to speak no more about unplanned events.

I like this group! Bill and Jim, businessmen from Boise and Seattle, respectively, are brothers who enjoy hunting and rafting trips whenever they can get together. Anna, a nurse from California, had rafted with WROrepparttar 105413 previous year and proved to be an experienced paddler with a wry sense of humor. Clint, a baker from Sun Valley, Idaho, displayed great skill with a Dutch oven as well as with a paddle.

Might Coffee be the most popular drink ever?

Written by Valerie Shapero


About 850 A.D it is said that a lone shepherd and his flock came across a strange and mysterious plant growing upon a secluded and forgotten hillside. Before he could stop them some of his herd had began to gnaw away at this unusual berry. After about fifteen minutes or sorepparttar herder started to notice that his sheep were behaving in an odd manner. Not only were they unusually alert but they also appeared to be extremely hyperactive. Now being a little weary and extremely tiredrepparttar 105380 shepherd decided to tryrepparttar 105381 berries and see ifrepparttar 105382 end results would berepparttar 105383 same for him as they had been for his flock. To his pleasant surpriserepparttar 105384 shepherd began to feel wide awake and he too became very alert. After a few hours had passed along came a wandering monk who, after being informed ofrepparttar 105385 plants amazing qualities proceeded to scoldrepparttar 105386 poor shepherd and lecture him on his foolish indulgence. After he had finished tellingrepparttar 105387 shepherd just what a sinner he had beenrepparttar 105388 monk set upon his journey but not before he had added a little something to his backpack and supplies.

Back atrepparttar 105389 monasteryrepparttar 105390 monks decided to try this new and exciting substance. Soonrepparttar 105391 endless hours of praying were endured withrepparttar 105392 greatest of ease. Coffee,repparttar 105393 drink had been revealed torepparttar 105394 world. Its widespread use then took a grip inrepparttar 105395 Ethiopian lands before then migrating on torepparttar 105396 Arabian outlands. Here it was to be held for many years as a sacred substance but was eventually to be unlawfully exported by a merchant called Baba Budan. Word of its qualities were soon to spread and within a few years coffee was to emerge as one ofrepparttar 105397 most valued commodities of all time. Now would you believe that each year we drink an amazing four billion cups and there are those among us who would cry atrepparttar 105398 thought of starting their day without it.

Although coffee is mainly known as a sleep suppressant there are those who consider coffee to have many health benefits. It is thought that people who suffer from asthma and partake ofrepparttar 105399 beverage have at least 25% less symptoms which may be due to a substance in coffee called theophylline. This is known as a bronchodilator and quite simply it is thought to help those who suffer withrepparttar 105400 disease to breath with a little more ease. Drinking coffee on a daily basis is also thought to help lower your chances of developing colon cancer by a figure also inrepparttar 105401 region of about 25%. This may be due torepparttar 105402 fact that coffee helps to keep you regular. Coffee can do more than just help you get through your day!

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