River Currents Blog

River Currents is a blog open to many voices that have had a connection with the river and our trips. You’ll hear the voice of veteran river-runner and Holiday founder Dee Holladay, the voice of guides whose lives have been shaped by their time on the river, and guests who bring the perspectives that remind us why we’re still making these trips happen 45 plus years later. You’ll also hear the voice of and stories through our regular blog contributors, Peta Owens-Liston and Julie Trevelyan.

Category Archives: History

Take a Family Rafting Trip Through Desolation Canyon This Year

Desolation Canyon on the Green River in Utah is the kind of place you read about in great literature. Spectacularly deep–deeper than the Grand Canyon in some places– and surrounded by more than a million acres of wilderness, “Deso” is isolated, but not desolate. For centuries, many cultures like the Ute Indians and Fremont Culture … Read more

Trip of the Week: The Lower Salmon River

by Julie Trevelyan Come play hard or relax into serenity on the Lower Salmon River in Idaho—it’s a very special river that changes with the seasons, offering different experiences to different rafters. Since the Salmon River is the country’s longest undammed river winding though one state, it gives you a taste of the way rivers … Read more

One Step In Front of the Other—Hiking Your Way Through A River Trip

By  Peta Owens-Liston While cradled in a raft riding the flow of the river is not a bad way to commute through life’s natural wonders, at some point restlessness kicks in. If you are like me, the “active” part of a trip is as important as the company, the food, and the weather. That’s why … Read more

Trip of the Week: The Main Salmon River, The River of No Return

by Julie Trevelyan Ready to river raft Idaho’s Main Salmon River—also known as the “River of No Return”? Relax, it’s not nearly as ominous as its moniker sounds. Back in the day, people could only head downstream as fast as the current took them, with no way to return except via long, arduous hikes. Since … Read more

Exploring the History of the Salmon River Rafting Canyons

Look no further for your summer adventure plan! Holiday River Expeditions offers two spectacular tours on “The River of No Return”–Idaho’s Salmon River, flowing through two and a half million acres of the Frank Church Wilderness Area in Idaho. This is the second largest protected area in the lower 48, making it a popular destination … Read more

Trip of the Week: The White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park

by Julie Trevelyan Red dirt spins away beneath your wheels as you roll over the trail. Legs pumping and lungs letting you know they work, you climb steep ascents, bank around turns, and zip down hills behind your guide on one of southern Utah’s most popular mountain bike trails: The White Rim Trail through Canyonlands … Read more

Trip of the Week: The Green River through Desolation Canyon, Where the Adventure Runs Deep

by Julie Trevelyan The Green River through Desolation Canyon “Desolation” usually conjures images of loneliness. However, Desolation Canyon is lonely in the best sense of the word: remote, uncrowded, and still untouched by the world. We think it’s a sweet river to run; so much so, in fact, that we have five great reasons river … Read more

Food on the River, Over the Years: Sue Holladay’s Memories and Pointers on Good Meals, Riverside

By Peta Owens-Liston The old Virginia Slims line, “We’ve come a long way baby,” comes to mind when Sue Holladay recalls the bare-bones meals on the river in the sixties. Dinner? Canned ham, canned yams topped with marshmallows, and canned sweet bread for dessert. This fare was before massive coolers, water- and air-tight bags, oxygen-free … Read more

Discover “The Swell” The San Rafael Swell, a Mountain Bike Trip

San Rafael Swell Mountain Biking by Julie Trevelyan Utah mountain biking ranks among the finest in the world. The San Rafael Swell, or the Swell as Utahans call it, is still a fairly undiscovered sweet spot for ripping down trails or easy pedaling through some of the most scenic vistas around. On a Holiday San … Read more

GREEN RIVER JOURNEY: DESOLATION AND GRAY CANYONS with CloudRidge Naturalists

GREEN RIVER JOURNEY: DESOLATION AND GRAY CANYONS May 27-June 2, 2012 7 Days/6 Nights Drs. Geoff Hammerson, Emmett Evanoff, Mike Scott, Ed Wick, and Steve Cassells Cutting a series of chasms in the 10,000-foot-high Tavaputs Plateau, the Green River forms a gorge deeper than the Grand Canyon at Bright Angel Creek. Desolation Canyon, first named … Read more