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SIX OR TWELVE DAY RIVER ADVENTURES

MIDDLE FORK AND MAIN SALMON RIVERS, IDAHO

Offbeat Interview Series with Marty

Marty ‘Spotty Record’ Rood

Born and raised in Emmett, Idaho, Marty broke into to the world of boating at a young age. In his high school shop class, while the other students were making picture frames and cigar boxes, Marty ambitiously built his first boat, a wooden drift boat named ‘Jacktar’.  Old Jacktar spent the next 30 years on Idaho’s classics, including the Middle Fork, Main Salmon, Hells Canyon/Snake River, Owyhee, and Payette rivers before being forced into retirement this past fall (that’s a story for another time).  Growing up in Idaho, near some of the best whitewater in the world, he became an avid Class V kayaker. Putting those skills to work, he spent many summers working with the Boy Scouts of America, teaching kayaking and mastering camp songs, among other things. In 2004 Marty founded a backcountry ski outfitting company, Payette Powder Guides, offering yurt rentals, backcountry ski guiding, and avalanche courses. Guiding for Canyons, since 1995, has kept Marty’s river soul happy in the summertime! In his free time, you will find him paddling, riding his moto, mountain biking or van camping with his lovely wife, Melissa, and their two “van cats”.

 

The Interview

If you could be a river superhero, what would you be?   Aquaman who can communicate with animals   

What is your favorite dress up theme?   Elvis and morph suits   

What is your ‘go to’ crazy hat night creation?  Kayak helmet over my Elvis glasses w/ built-in sideburns  

What brought you to Canyons?   The opportunity to kayak as a river guide    

How many years have you worked here?   Spotty record since 1995   

What is your favorite thing about Canyons?   The other guides 

If you could describe Canyons in 3 words?  Tons. Of. Fun! 

When you hear the word Idaho, what comes to mind?   “Esto Perpetua” the Idaho state motto….may it be forever! 

What are your top three favorite camps?   Indian Creek (MF), Marble Left (MF), Warren (MN)

Your favorite hike?   Earl Parrott’s upper cabin looking into the Big Horn Crags 

Top three favorite rapids?  Pistol (MF), Redside (MF), Hancock (MN)    

Currently, what is your nemesis rapid?  The Little Pine Boulders  

What river do you want to run that you haven’t yet?  The Little North Fork of the Clearwater

What do you consider a ‘real’ job?   I don’t understand the question  🙂  

If you could only have one kayak in your quiver, what would it be and why?  A Remix 79 cuz you run anything and carry all your stuff in it    

What is your favorite thing to cook on the river?   Anything on the grill

If you could take a musician or band down the river today, who would it be?   Eddy Vedder   

What is your most memorable swim in a river?   South Fork of the Payette, Grandjean section. I Swam out of my boat while tied to someone else’s….not a good idea

What is one of your river rituals or superstitions?   Not sure it’s a ‘ritual’, but I like to tell all the guests on Day 1, “The key to any relationship is communication”…we’re now traveling as a tribe down the river for the next 6 or 12 days, so let’s all just get comfortable!

What is your most valued non-river-related item that you bring with you on every trip?    My earbuds and tunes, to put me to sleep at night

What is your favorite groover spot?   The one with no wait line

About Greg McFadden

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