John Barker: A River Runner Moves On

I didn't know John A.K. Barker, but I'm sure we were in meetings together over the years, and I've long heard his name connected to rivers throughout Idaho, especially the lower Salmon. He recently passed away.

As an outfitter, John took thousands down the lower Salmon.  He also introduced a handful of ICLers to big water back in 1978. Below is Gary Richardson's recounting of this high-water trip.

I also want to share a video of John. It's a good way to meet John and learn about a mighty river gone wrong.

An event this weekend in Lewiston will celebrate his life: Saturday, Feb 19, 1 pm, Elks Lodge, 3444 Country Club Drive.

I have fond memories of John AK Barker almost drowning several  of us, then saving me on my first white-water adventure, the infamous 1978 ICL  trip down the Main Salmon. The river was flowing at 22,500 cfs. After pulling  over and scouting the Slide, John decided that all five rafts should run the  rapids. John went first and flipped his huge pontoon raft. Two of the boats to  follow also flipped.

I  was aboard a six-man paddle raft. I recall a huge wave curling the bow up and  back over the stern and my paddle being knocked out of my hands as the guy  astraddle the tube in front was catapulted over me. I did as instructed and  floated downstream with my feet out in front in case of any rocks. I recall  beginning to enjoy the ride, when, suddenly, I was swallowed and sucked deep  beneath the surface. The hydraulic forces were so great that I realized  swimming was useless; the only way to survive was to “go with the flow” and to  suck as much air as possible whenever I bobbed to the surface, which was no  easy feat. My life jacket kept lifting up above me whenever I surfaced. I  learned later that the jacket had not been properly secured around my waist  and there was no crotch strap.

As  I emerged from the hydraulics of what must have been a second rapids that  interrupted my leisurely feet-first float, I could see two figures on what  turned out to be the overturned pontoon, which had eddied out. As best I  could, I nudged my way toward it. Sure enough, there was Barker and one of his  passengers who had managed to stay with the raft. They reached over and pulled  me aboard like a nearly dead, very cold fish. One of the other passengers in  John’s boat was picked up about a mile downstream by jet-boaters. She was as  white as a sheet for the rest of the trip. I also learned later that wise  boaters don’t run the Slide when the flow is above  18,500.

John  AK Barker introduced me to a part of Idaho I’ll never forget! A week later, I  seized the opportunity to float the Middle Fork of the Salmon—observing the  old horseman’s adage that one must get right back on after being tossed. And  that’s another story.