7dayadventurists: Middle Fork + Main Salmon + Snake River Idaho July/August 2013

The Walpoles and I lucked out by securing cancellation permits for the Middle Fork and the Main Salmon the night we returned from the Rogue River. We had to be on the road in less than 24 hours to make the launch date for the Middle Fork. We cleaned, packed and planned for a trip lasting at least 22 days while covering 320 miles. We took 2 rafts and drove to my favorite river and were able to launch the following day. Having Middle/Main permits back to back has been a dream of mine since my first Middle Fork trip. For the first time, after traveling down 99 miles on the Middle Fork we didn’t have to take out.

The Middle Fork of the Salmon was low with a reading of 1.92 on the gauge the day we launched. It was very technical, but we were running fairly light and were able to move our boats. This made it FUN! We scouted some of the major drops picked lines through the maze of boulders and then tried to execute the moves. There were also miles and miles of boulder gardens requiring precision move after move to avoid getting hung up on rocks. There were fires on the river again this year. It seems like every year wildfires claim another piece of wilderness along this river. Fortunately the smoke wasn't too bad. The main fire was in the impassable canyon section and fire crews were being flown into the Flying B Ranch and then rafted down to do their work. We rowed past hillsides that were smoking and burning with hotspots everywhere. There was also a tree that fell and blocked 3/4 of the river below Elk Bar and above Veil Falls. I haven't been on the Middle Fork in several years but I was happy that I could remember where to scout and where to pull over to see the points of interest. When the Middle Fork flowed into the Main Salmon we were able to turn the corner and keep floating down the Main.

We just kept floating the river down to the Main Salmon launching area. At this point we had a forced layover day waiting for our Main Salmon launch date.

Our Main Salmon trip started off with a search for missing goats. We spied them and were able to run up the river trail to notify the owner who was greatly relived. On this trip we met another small party from Idaho and New Mexico. We exchanges stories and they shared fresh food and drink with us. We scouted the new rapids made from stream blowouts. The bees/wasps were numerous and fierce. The big camps that get heavy use were the worst. You'd push off from shore and the bees would follow you along buzzing in your face. We searched for small camps with little use. Part way down the river the weather turned and it rained. Something upstream blew out and the water turned a dark thick chocolate color. The weather turned nice and hot again, but the river still held a lot of dirt and debris. We tried to find campsites next to clear running side streams. On the last night of the permitted part of the run we shared camp with that other small river party. Jon provided rolling instruction and in exchange they provided dinner for us.

The next morning we rowed past the Main Salmon permit takeout area and entered new river territory for all of us. This section of the river has a road that travels along it. The river corridor is still beautiful and interesting even if it isn't remote and wild. When we got to the town of Riggins we tied up our boats and grabbed our shopping/chore list. We bought fresh food and some other essentials to resupply. There isn't a decent river map for the section of river between Riggins and White Bird. We just had to take extra precaution and scout when we felt it was necessary. There are some fantastic drops in this section. The scenery is quite good, but there aren't many camps to choose from.

When we arrived at the launch site for the White Bird section, we saw many commercial groups gearing up for trips. The river was finally starting to clear. We enjoyed running this section of river. I had only run it once before and didn't remember much about it, so it was like a new river for all of us.