The wilds of Idaho have a lot to teach us. On a recent trip through Hells Canyon, NRS guest contributor, Emily Jackson, put forth some lessons from our iconic Whitewater State. Important parenting-on-the-river tips like, “You can never pack it all. Instead, mentally prepare for the things you’ll physically forget.” So true, especially when you’re bobbing along the bottom of America’s deepest river gorge for multiple days on end. Other wisdom includes, “It’s okay to be scared.” Y’know, of bears and rattlesnakes, and regardless of age. And, “Let your kids learn by doing,” as hers are forced to wrestle with tangled fishing lines while Emily helms the raft.
Emily Jackson and her children, living their best lives in Idaho’s Hells Canyon. Photo Credit NRS, Inc.
In her words—words captured in the belly of a ten-mile wide gorge that dissects three states, where Idaho’s famous rolling ridge lines frame up its sweeping orange sunsets—Emily and her children embody what it means to be Idaho-Forged, which is to say that Idaho’s wilderness forgives us just enough, but never so much we fail to learn from our valuable moments spent in it.
