Overview

The last of the West's great wild rivers. A handmade dory. And two men determined to live life on their terms--at any cost. On June 8, 1996 at exactly 8:50 p.m., three men launched a small, handmade wooden dory onto Idaho's renowned Salmon River at peak flood of an extreme high water year. Jon Barker and Clancy Reece were professional raft guides and lifelong friends. Their river adventures had become legendary in their community, especially their 1988 voyage from the Salmon's source in the Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho to the Pacific Ocean, a journey of 900 miles. This was to be their most ambitious adventure yet. Joined by a man named Craig Plummer, they planned to ride the raging river straight through Idaho's wilderness heart, setting a 24 hour speed record they would share only with a handful of admirers and friends. But that's not what happened. Anything Worth Doing is a thrilling, heartbreaking story, but this book's larger gift is the way it takes us inside the hearts, minds and homes of that rare breed for whom security is optional but freedom and passion are not. Jo Deurbrouck's careful research and compassionate eye carve a place for her alongside the best American travel and outdoor writers.

"Anything Worth Doing book begins in contemplative headwaters and builds into a story as powerful as a floodstage river."
         -- Rocky Barker, Author of 'Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America'

"...this unforgettable book...catches, then lodges in the eddy of the heart."
         -- Cort Conley, Literature Program Director, Idaho Commission on the Arts

Categories

Awards

• National Outdoor Book Awards 2012