Ghosts of the Frank is an immersive journey through the adventurous and daring lens of expert backcountry skier and journalist Dan Noakes. This series was created by Noakes, highlighting Noakes' solo winter journey across the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho. In doing this, Noakes also explores the drama of the people who once lived, worked, and died there.
He takes viewers on an emotional experience that goes beyond skiing by examining the land declared a wilderness reserve by Congress in 1980 and the subsequent controversy of the Forest Service's efforts to burn down cabins as it acquired private land in the name of preservation. He leaves the audience to answer for themselves if the mainstream Wilderness narrative has silenced the whisperings of the ghosts that still roam in the Frank Church today.
The footage Noakes captures is breathtaking, with various camera shots and devices, like Go-Pros and other cameras, that capture the solemn majesty of this Idaho treasure. The terrain bodes a warning, danger even. Noakes understands the risks and that there are all kinds of inherent dangers in skiing the backcountry, yet he goes places not traveled by anyone.
Ghosts of the Frank is also a personal and emotional experience as Noakes combines backpacking and skiing to connect with his father, who he was separated from during his early years. The traverse is filled with peril and tests Noakes' mental limits. The series goes beyond skiing by examining the controversy of the Forest Service's efforts of burning down cabins as it acquired private land in the name of preservation. It leaves the audience questioning whether the mainstream Wilderness narrative has silenced the whisperings of the ghosts that still roam in the Frank Church today.
The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness was designated by the United States Congress in 1980. It now encompasses 2,366,757 acres, making it the largest contiguous Wilderness in the Lower 48 states.
This protected land is a wilderness of rugged mountains, deep canyons, and whitewater rivers in the Salmon River Mountains, found just south of the Main Salmon and just west of the Middle Fork.
The Clearwater Mountains are North of the Main Salmon River; the Bighorn Crags are east of the Middle Fork. The Salmon River Canyon is also one of the deepest gorges in North America, deeper even than the famous Grand Canyon of Colorado in Arizona.
But our stunning Salmon River Canyon is not noted for its towering heights but for the variety of landscapes that a kayaker or boater can see from the river: tall trees and conifer forests framing the ridges rising to the sky, huge eroded monuments and bluffs, slides, picturesque castles and towers, and solitary crags.
According to the US Forest Service, the administration of this Wilderness is overseen by two Forest Service Regions (Northern and Intermountain) and four National Forests: Salmon-Challis, Payette, Nez Perce, and Bitterroot. The lead forest for managing it has its headquarters in Salmon, Idaho.
Ghosts of the Frank is available on the PBS app and online at video.idahoptv.org.