This story was originally published in the Tribune on Aug. 23, 1978.
SALMON, Idaho — President Carter floated down the Salmon River in a rain-swept raft Tuesday, fishing and enjoying some rare — and costly — privacy on what he called “one of the most undisturbed rivers in the nation.”
Wearing blue jeans and an orange life jacket over his blue denim jacket, Carter and his family — wife Rosalynn, daughter Amy and sons Chip and Jack — sat in a 20-foot rubber raft as it meandered down the middle fork of the Salmon River at 5 mph.
But even if wet and cold, the party is eating well.
“We’ve never seen an outfitter that catered to chili out of the can,” said Bill Guth Sr. He’s the 67-year-old father of outfitters Bill and Norm Guth, who are guiding the trip.
The expedition has packed hundreds of pounds of provisions in ice chests — food for both the presidential party and reporters.
The grocery list includes 14 chickens, 30, pounds of Idaho potatoes, 10 pounds of beef roasts, 30 New York cut steaks, 30 top sirloing and 20 dozen eggs.
The 1½-inch thick steaks will become tonight’s dinner, along with sauteed mushrooms and dessert of fresh fruit and strawberry shortcake.
Kave Guth, Norman’s wife, said breakfast will include blueberry or sourdough pancakes, sausage, ham, bacon and eggs. Lunches will offer fried chicken and homemade potato salad and hors d’oeuvres of homemade avocado dip and smoked oysters.
Fourteen marinated roasts were to be served Tuesday night.
About five miles down the three-foot-deep river from the point on Indian Creek where the president and his party boarded their rafts, the president stopped the procession to fish in an area called Sunflower Flat.
Using spinners, the Carters caught three cutthroat trout and promptly threw them back, in compliance with conservation regulations for that part of the river.
Carter was clearly enjoying the day despite the steady rain. As he stood on the dock and surveyed the mountain gorge through which the river winds, Carter said, “It’s beautiful — I feel good already.”
During the flight Monday night to Boise, Idaho, from Georgia aboard Air Force One, Carter said with a grin that although he would remain in constant radio contact with the outside world, “I have issued a directive that there be no crises.”
The family spent the night at the Rodeway Inn in Boise, then left shortly after dawn by helicopter for the takeoff point on their three-day, 80-mile rafting adventure. They planned to make about 30 miles the first day and camp for the night along the river bank.
Paula Guth, wife of a co-owner of the outfitting company that arranged the trip, traveled ahead to set up the Carters’ overnight camp. She said their first dinner along the river would be a hearty meal of marinated steak roast, baked potatoes and sour cream, broccoli and oatmeal cake.
The president is paying personally for the family’s expenses on the trip, estimated at several hundred dollars for guides, supplies, rafts and other equipment. The government is paying the rest, which is substantial, including the cost of helicopters, advance security arrangements, Secret Service protection and support material and services.
The White House would not provide an estimate of the total cost of the trip. As for Carter personally, Mrs. Guth said the charge for the usual five-day rafting trip is $400 a person, but because the Carters are only spending three days on the river, she did not know what they would be charged.
As his raft shoved off, Carter stood up and snapped a picture of reporters and photographers on the riverbank, using a camera hanging from his neck, “to remind me of what I am leaving.”
But the president did not leave behind very much of the reminders of his office. Nearby was a raft containing Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus and his wife, Carol. Secret Service agents rode in a third raft, and a fourth contained White House aides and reporters.
Trailing farther behind were four rafts containing supplies for the Carters’ overnight encampment, three rafts for additional reporters and dinghles with Secret Service agents aboard.
Carter’s raft was equipped with radio communications, and he said there was a communications satellite and Strategic Air Command planes overhead, ready to handle emergency messages from the president.
Andrus, a former Idaho governor, selected the river for Carter’s rafting trip. The president told reporters he planned to stop along the way to fish and see Indian artifacts.
“It’s probably one of the most undisturbed rivers in the nation,” Carter said. “I have looked at topographical maps and studied the history of it.”
After the rafting trip. Carter will visit Grand Teton National Park and then return to Washington, D.C., to prepare for his Sept. 5 Middle East summit meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at Camp David, Md.
