Salmon River, Idaho Spring 2005 Paddling
Susan & I like to take the whole family on an adventure trip each year. This year we almost got in over our heads! Lori and I had paddled the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho in 2001 and she had done both the Middle Fork and the Main Salmon River in 1999. Lori's first trip was in July and the 2001 trip was at the end of June. We have wonderful memories. Please see links to these trips at the bottom of this story. Lori's job is on a tight schedule during the summer and Ron finished school the last week of May. We decided to paddle the entire Salmon River the very first week it could be run. Our thinking was that since this is a snow melt river we would have more water and bigger waves. Well that's what we had along with snow, sleet, rain, and almost more water than we could handle. It was perfect for Lori's advanced skills but more than Ron, Trey, and I bargained for. We all met in Boise, explored, and had a great meal at Angel's Restaurant. The next morning we met Max and Bruce at Executive Air. It was very cloudy and raining and we had to wait for an opening in the clouds. It was extremely tense but finally the pilot said "let's go up and see what happens". We finally boarded our plane and were off. Twice we ran into box canyons with dence cloud cover and had to turn back. The mountains were quite high. We finally landed and unpacked our gear. The altitude was 6500 feet and it was snowing. We outfitted our kayaks and placed our gear in dry bags. We met our guides Laurie, Brooke, Lisa, Ariana, and Les. Bruce would come along also and Max would drive the truck back to McCall. Susan and Marty would ride on one of the three oar rafts where our gear was stored. The last time I was here I geared up quickly and went out on the river and practiced my kayak roll, ferries, and eddie turns. This time the river was different. It was much higher and once we started there was no stopping until lunch. Initially the river dropped 75 feet per mile and the water was much higher than normal. We navigated four class IV rapids and three class III rapids in the first hour. There were whirlpools, big drops, life-threatening hydraulics, and the water was 45 degrees. The wind was blowing hard. The kayakers had their hands full but the huge waves swamping the oar rafts kept Susan and Marty much colder than us. When we stopped for lunch, Marty and I were so cold we couldn't chew our food. I was seriously afraid that we had taken on too much with the trip. I couldn't help to think that we had eight more days after this. We didn't paddle very long in the afternoon but still covered almost 30 miles. The river was just moving so fast. We were very cold and wet! Luckily, it was not raining when we got to camp. We were able to hang our clothes up and dry them. Susan and I had planned to get into our tent and into our sleeping bags to warm up. Fortunately, there were some hot springs nearby. It was like an angel placed them there for us. We were nice and warm when we got back to the camp for snacks. The next morning started with a great breakfast, dry clothes, and no snow or rain. Paddling was much better, and the rafters were better dressed. It was a much better day but still bigger rapids and waves than we were prepared for. By lunch time we were at much lower altitude and could enjoy ourselves more. The scenery was spectacular. For the most part, we were deep in a gorge. Many of the mountains were covered with snow and there were many waterfalls and streams coming in. The river was a paddler's dream! Even though it did rain on us some, we had a much better day and a better outlook when we reached camp. During the entire trip, it seldom rained on us in camp. Therefore, we were able to dry our clothes and enjoy camp life and our meals. Our guides were great hosts and chefs. What an adventurous group! Our tents and sleeping bags were wonderful. We particularly enjoyed our great lunches on the side of the river. We learned about the colorful history of the river and took hikes frequently to see Native American pictographs over 8 thousand years old and the ruins of the camps of those who attempted to live on and tame the river.
At the end of our fifth day we reached the confuence of the Main Salmon River and stopped to reprovision. We were sorry that Marty had to leave and would not be along for the next 4 days. Also Brooke, Laurie, and Les headed back up to the putin for another Middle Fork run. Susan, Lori, Ron, Trey, and I would continue on with Lisa, Ariana, and Bruce as our guides. That night we stayed at the Salmon River Lodge which is only accessible by boat. It was a luxury to shower and sleep in a bed. It was a rainy night. Before we got there, however we had to go over the largest waves on the river. The paddling was great! The Main Salmon River is much larger than the Middle Fork. The waves could easily reach fifteen feet, sometimes without even breaking! Since we were on the first run of the year, there was always some uncertainty about what would be on the other side of each wave. We would have to scout from the top of each wave. The rafts probably had more trouble with these large waves than the kayaks. The kayaks had trouble with the large whirrlpools at the bottom of the huge wave trains. As we reached lower altitudes it became warmer but we only had sun one day out of 9 on the river. We felt a little safer on the Main Salmon as there often was a road or hiking trail alongside. Occasoinally a huge jetboat would go by. It was truly amazing to see them go upstream in such big water and waves. The water was a lot warmer here also. Our camp life was one of the best parts of the trip. We had good appetisers, games, meals, and fireside chats and drinks. Hot breakfasts were always ready along with coffee, tea or hot chocolate as soon as we awakened. The best night in camp was our last night. It was party and award night. Out came a big bag of costumes and a big tub of sangria. We all got into party mood. The hit of the party was Trey dressed as a rock star. Susan got the Happy Camper award and well deserved it. She certainly got wetter & colder on the raft than we did in kayaks. Marty had already won the Happy paddler award before he left. Braving class 4 rapids in a ducky took nerves of skill and a rare adventurous spirit. He got home and sent us some of his pictures. At the take out we loaded up for the long ride back to McCall and a puddlejumper flight back to Boise. We had a leisurely evening in Boise and a great meal at Asiago's Downtown which we highly recommend. The next morning we all caught planes to our various homes planning to all see each other again at Trey's wedding in September. We all also wanted to look at hughbarrow.com and see pictures of Lori's 1999 trip here and She and my 2001 trip here to compare the differences. /hugh
