River and Ranch Research
Researching this book means two things to me: mining memories from the time that I lived and worked in the area and discovering a surprising amount of interesting things online, in one way or another.
A big chunk of River and Ranch takes place rafting down the Main and Middle Fork of the Salmon River. I made this part of the book as true as I could based on the years I spent guiding on those two amazing rivers. An incredible time in my life. The Main and the Middle are amazing places, especially if you were a corn fed Midwestern hick like I was when I found myself out there guiding raft trips.
This part of the world will always be my favorite. The rivers, the mountains, skiing, rafting, hunting and fishing, the ranching and the small town lifestyles are about as good as you'll find anywhere. At least to me.