I live near the Selway, and it really is the crown jewel of Western Whitewater.
This post certainly doesn't oversell the difficulty of getting a permit to raft it. Your options are basically:
1) Enter a lottery to do it yourself, with about a 1% chance of getting in
2) Try and get on a paid guided trip (there are only 4 operators), that are typically booked out 3+ years in advance, and cost ~$4k+
3) Try and raft it "outside of season" (spring/fall) when conditions could well be difficult/impossible/dangerous/miserable.
By all accounts, it's worth it. I remember reading a book by a raft guide who had run an operation on the Salmon River (the other big multi-day remote whitewater rafting destination in Idaho) for decades, and the instant he had the opportunity to buy out another guide with a permit on the Selway, he sold his Salmon operation without hesitation.
I haven't had the chance to do a Selway trip yet (because of the above factors), but I've camped at both where the author put in, and took out. Both are very nice, beautiful places to camp. We camped at Race Creek a few years back, and my kids still talk about it like it was the best camping experience of their lives.
Like the author, I can whooly recommend the value of wilderness in improving your mental state, adding clarity to your life and just generally making you a better person.
I think we're designed for some time in the woods or desert or jungle or tundra away from humanity, and I'd encourage you all to seek it out.
The Secretary of Agriculture's regulations (36 CFR 261) provide in part for regulating the occupancy and use of developed recreation sites. A violation of these regulations is subject to a penalty of not more than $5,000 or 6 months imprisonment, or both.
Of all towns [in the US] with more than 1,000 residents, Glasgow [Montana], home to 3,363 people in the rolling prairie of northeastern Montana, is farthest — about 4.5 hours in any direction — from any metropolitan area of more than 75,000 people.
Rafting on HN, never thought I'd see the day! For anyone looking for more on the subject of multi-day wilderness rafting trips, my parents wrote a blog post on a similar trip we did in Alaska (more remote and logistically complicated, less significant whitewater-wise): https://www.roguewanderers.com/blog/chilikadrotna-river-floa...
The really cool thing about being on a river compared to any other form of wilderness experience is the remoteness. Especially in a deep canyon, there's only one way in and out, which is floating. The result is you'll see totally pristine environments that are inaccessible otherwise.
I think the rafts you're looking at are just gear rigs, on long multi-day trips usually there is only one person with a set of oars. The boats have frames and lots of cargo space for food, clothes, toilets, tents, kitchen, etc.
Depending on the size of the boat and the difficulty of the river you can have more people on them, but still only one person rows.
This post certainly doesn't oversell the difficulty of getting a permit to raft it. Your options are basically:
1) Enter a lottery to do it yourself, with about a 1% chance of getting in
2) Try and get on a paid guided trip (there are only 4 operators), that are typically booked out 3+ years in advance, and cost ~$4k+
3) Try and raft it "outside of season" (spring/fall) when conditions could well be difficult/impossible/dangerous/miserable.
By all accounts, it's worth it. I remember reading a book by a raft guide who had run an operation on the Salmon River (the other big multi-day remote whitewater rafting destination in Idaho) for decades, and the instant he had the opportunity to buy out another guide with a permit on the Selway, he sold his Salmon operation without hesitation.
I haven't had the chance to do a Selway trip yet (because of the above factors), but I've camped at both where the author put in, and took out. Both are very nice, beautiful places to camp. We camped at Race Creek a few years back, and my kids still talk about it like it was the best camping experience of their lives.
Like the author, I can whooly recommend the value of wilderness in improving your mental state, adding clarity to your life and just generally making you a better person.
I think we're designed for some time in the woods or desert or jungle or tundra away from humanity, and I'd encourage you all to seek it out.