It's all how you package the accolades. While the Elk River has been kayaked and rafted for decades, this spring a group of local adventurers etched themselves into the history books (fame, fortune!) by stand-up paddleboarding it for the first time ever.

During the mid-May assault, the river was flowing at a medium level of 1,200 cfs, with enough push to keep them on their toes and shallowness to knock them off them.

"It was kind of a novel thing to do," says Peter Hall, owner of local SUP company Hala Gear, who made the hang-10 trip with fellow locals Danny Tebbenkamp, Charlie Preston-Townsend and Andrew Smith. "I biffed a couple of times when my fins hit rocks, but overall it was a nice clean run. We had a blast."