Christina King reports the following:
I just got off of the Middle fork/Main June 14-21. The road to Boundary
is in excellent condition. Murphy's hole gave us a close call but no flips.
We put on at 7.26. Both rivers are dropping rapidly. Commercial companies
were putting on at Boundary but flying the customers in at Indian Creek.
Only saw one other group on the Main. The rapids to watch for are Murphy's
hole, Velvet, ski jump (above Sunflower), Lower Cliffside, and Weber. The
Main is Bear creek, whiplash, and Chittam. (Elkhorn and Killum were also
big).
Subject: My Selway Trip
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 1997 18:34:27 -0700
From: Jen Jenkins
Hello Fellow Rafters,
Just thought I might share some moments of my Selway Trip. We put-in on July 11, 1997. The weather was absolutely beautiful, only partly cloudy on day two. In the 90's the last two days. When we dropped in the level was 2.5, just perfect for our group. We had two 17 or 18 foot rafts, one cataraft, and one kayaker. Only seven of us in the group and it was perfect that size.
We ate crab legs, surf and turf kabobs, chicken Divergo, flank steak, lots of good stuff . We were on vacation you know! We couldn't believe how clear the water was. My ride on the front of the cat was unbelievable. I saw fish, one brown bear from Dead Elk Campground, and a moose at the put-in. We dove off rocks 15' feet high and I think I used all the guts I have on this trip. I am a 27 year old girl who took this trip for everything I had. I wanted to do everything the guys did, and I came pretty close. We had some crazy people with us, lots of fun though.
We all made it down with no flips and no swimmers. We popped a bottle of champagne at the take-out for celebration because we felt pretty lucky that we didn't have any trouble. The water level was just right for our group. We scouted Ham, Ladle, Double Drop, and Wolf Creek, I think that was the last class four. When we got to Ladle, we were freaking out because we knew the big rafts would cruise down but the cataraft was a different story. My boyfriend rowed me down the river and he was worried about Ladle. We had everyone go down first to be at the end in case we got in trouble and we went for it. We got about 20 yards into the rock garden (as we all called it) and we hit a boulder and turned so that we were facing the shore and we were lodged on two rocks. The group said we were stuck there for 10 minutes. It seemed like about 7 to me but what do I know, I was trying to get that lug off those rocks. We high-sided and I moved to the back of the raft and before we knew it we were both on the left side of the raft with water rushing over the right tube and totally covering the frame and we were rocking in unison to get it to set us free. It was pretty exciting and I kept my cool enough that I kept telling my boyfriend to keep trying because I could tell that we were moving slowly off those rocks. Finally we slid off and I think he literally threw me to the front of the raft to get grounded so we could go through that huge hole at the end of the rapid. Wow! What fun.
I just had a blast the whole week and I would do it again in a second. We ate well and drank well and just completely enjoyed ourselves. Thanks to the people who wrote me before the trip, I appreciate it. I will always check in to see what is happening in the wild world of white water rafting. Happy Rafting to Everyone,
See ya, Jen Jenkins in Montana
Subject: Trip Report- Middle Fork at 4.85'
Date: Thu, 03 Jul 1997 00:07:55 -0600
From: Aaron Nissen
"Ideal" boating conditions for the Middle Fork- Salmon. Ran it on 6/26-29/97 and was 4.85 feet when we put on. Crowds were out in force though- 7 launches in all with 20 to 24 people per group.
Flow was off from the last couple of years we ran it (6/97 @ 8.1 ft and 6/96 at 6.1 ft), so we were able to relax and enjoy the trip more this year. No real problems- though one raft nailed a rock up against his dry box, which went through all 4 layers of his self-bailing floor.
We all ran big rafts (3- 15.5', 2- 16.5' and 1-18', plus 2 K's) and like to run everything up the gut. This was ideal flow for us (though we had 1 swimmer @ Lower Cliffside). Last year (at 8.1'), we didn't fair as well and flipped two (@ Redside and Cub Creek).
However, two weeks ago we got really spanked on the Lochsa River @ 16,000 cfs (flipped these big boats 7 times with one true end-oh caught on film- see pix). First day, flipped 3 rafts running the gut in Lochsa Falls, so we had to run it again. Second day we flipped 4 more times at Killer Fang, Picking Up the Pieces, Old Man and Morning Glory. Huge water for rafting- definently our best trip ever and we will be back.
Hells Canyon- Snake @ 48,000 cfs was a little disappointing at the larger flow, most everything washed out, except good waves at Wild Sheep Creek and Granite Falls (1 brief swimmer at Granite).
Anyway back to the Middle Fork- Velvet Falls still causing problems for some (party before us flipped 2 and party behind flipped 1)- smaller rafts and cats having tough time punching through hydraulics. Can tuck behind rock on left for a sneak around the hole.
Pistol Creek also causing problems for some- required sneak around hole on right (with ripper rock just visible), this requires agile maneuvering away from the wall at end of run. Was told- several rafts behind us kissed wall, but barely kept from flipping by rock siding aggressively.
Of course the big fun waves were; Jack's Creek, Lower Cliffside, Rubber, Webber, Hancock and House Rock.
see ya the water!!
Murtaugh at 31000: wow!!! What a incredible big water run! Like the best of the Grand Canyon scrunched into 14 miles. Not particularly more difficult than at 'normal' levels, just bigger and more flippable. Swims in the first 4 miles could be long (as evidenced by the open canoe boater who began his swim under the bridge, abandoned his boat, and hiked out...apparently the first wise decision he made that day.)
Huge chaotic, surging, sometimes breaking wave trains throughout the run, plus some monster green glassy surf waves, some breaking all the way down the face in the center. One of the standouts was the wave train above the Indian Amphitheater. Looks nasty from above, but move left after the top hole for an incredible ride, similar to Ruby at 65000, or Hermit on the Grand. For the most part you could pick your poison and go for the monster surfs, or just push through. Was also fairly easy to read from a cat, standard runs still apply.
Probably the nastiest spot to avoid (other than 'dice') was the 'horseshoe' below junkyard, along with a rock/hole on the left side there; stay in the center. There's just a wall of water wave down below on the left, how I made it through I still don't know. Perched on top, leaning forward holding on to the foot bar, looking at my oars and wishing I could reach out and give them a push, but knowing if I moved an inch I was gonna slide back down. Plus I didn't want to give up my grip cause I was just counting the milliseconds before the 'big flip' happened. Then it let me go. wow! It had to be a 14 foot wall of breaking surf!
Pair a Dice was very unnerving floating into it. Pretty blind until you get right up to it. About the only route to consider is right across the portage island, through a narrow slot, and drop off the right side about 5 to 7 feet straight vertical. No nasty reversal, but bony enough to hang up on and drop off sideways. As water drops, this will shut off, but may be able to land on the island then, or the left route across the island may become more inviting (stay away from far left!! for a while, we have run it at 20000, but too strong right now). One of our boaters ran just to the left of the center run. It worked real good on day 1 at 31300, just skipped across the reversal. But worked real bad on day 2 at 30300. The Boat dug in at the bottom and got pulled back near the center run reversal. battled for an eternity but came out upright.
Door #2 at 'the Deal' is flushed out, but door #3 was very fun. Absolute monster hydraulic just downstream is about as big as you could ever expect to get through. We went 3 for 4 there, but that seems surprising. Tom's flip was as quick and violent as i've seen an upstream flip be. You can hit or miss the hydraulic by taking door 2, your choice. Either way, tuck in tight at Fantasy Island to avoid the big ledge on river left above 'the Deal'.
Caught a surf for about 3 minutes just below the Endless Summer wave. Tom flipped on day 1 surfing the last wave at the Idaho Connection, another big ocean surf breaker. I could go on and on, but I'm way too long already.
This is big, fun, but serious stuff. Not for casual boaters. Anyone who boats it needs to be comfortable in huge water, and comfortable and willing to flip boats. And prepared to deal with Pair a Dice.
It was quite a trip, we were all fairly experienced- 3 WWIIs (15.5ft), 2 WWI-streteched, 1 14 ft cat, 1 16ft cat, and 3 Kayakers. Had some 14 ft boats wanting to go but did not let go, as we felt too small a boat for that water. We also required helmets and wet/dry suits.
Just days before we launched, the trip was questionable as the river was 9 ft and rising - projected to be over 11 ft. We kept our plans on schedule but prepared to cancel, even at the put in, if either above 9 ft or 8 ft and rising. We put in at Marsh (actually Cape Horn) on May 21st as the road to Boundary was closed. The flow was 8.04 and dropped from high 8s the day before. The forecast called for high 7s to low 8s throughout the remainder of our trip. Marsh, as expected, was wild and fast (only four eddy spots, five if you have a cat). None of us in the party did this section before. Safety always being first, we:
- we chartered a plane and flew over it a few days prior and
scouted Marsh from air.
- had topo maps of Marsh area
- made many calls to gather as much info as possible on Marsh
Marsh was full of fast water, blind corners and surprise holes. We had to line our boats under the first bridge (500 feet from road)...just barely fit. The second pack bridge was ok but was around a fast corner and had to duck (one guy nicked his head - thank God for helmets! Once on middle fork but above Dagger (about 6 miles), the river makes a hard right turn. Third boat started a wrap then flipped at the top point of the island just as river cut right - tight pull turn. One guy stuck on island, one guy swam. Second to last boat also got stuck same place but able to push off but had to go left of island through a mine field. Sweep boat (cat) was behind stuck boat. Between keeping eye on stuck boat, trying to find eddy, read river, and kayaker without a paddle telling him he had a swimmer down stream; he didn't observe previous stranded passenger stuck on island from previous flip. Sweep did capture swimmer about an hour later and a mile down stream (first catchable eddy) from island and shortly after caught up with first half of group - they already had swimmer's boat righted..in in fairly weak eddy (i.e. strong current)!
We ended up with half of party at Dagger and half camped 2 miles above dagger too late and tired to make Dagger that evening) and a guy stuck on an island (no boat and he already paid). For the first three to four hours, we thought there was a good chance we lost him! Then, at Dagger camp, once we pieced all the information together between groups (sweep guy and kayaker talked to both parties that day...we brought radios for just such an emergency but could not get reception), we were confident that the lost guy was stuck on the island 5 miles back. Now the confidence that he was on the island varied from "done-deal" to " more than likely guy is dead" within the group.
While at Dagger, that first half of the party was also concerned about the second half as they were to have been to Dagger that evening as well. However, they were confident they pulled over and did not run into problems as they were well seasoned boaters. The Dagger party had three very experienced and able hikers head upstream with rescue gear. They first came across our other half of the party bedded down on a camp trail 2 miles above Dagger, welcomed news for all. The rescue team then proceeded on. They shared with the rest of us the feeling of despair and fear of loosing a comrade while hiking up the 5 miles. Some of these hikers were ones on the side of having less confidence that he was safe on the island. Now, who's to say which state of mind is correct between the two. This is where groups are at there best! The confident ones (maybe just hope at times) keeping the worriers from loosing hope and the worriers kept the non-worriers from being too complacent. We respected each persons mindset on this and as a team pulled together. As the rescue team got closer, the stranded islander suddenly heard a faint whistle in the back ground...what a relief and a burst of hope as the sun was settling down for bed. Soon, the rescue party shared the same joy when they heard the return voice acknowledge the whistle (each party should have a whistle not just the captains). What was then like an eternity, shortly thereafter they found our guy on the island as hoped and prayed for. He was calm (as reasonably can be expected), had dried his cloths, set up a "small camp" with pine needle mattress and all the other comforts of the outdoors found on a remote Island....No, we did not give him the nickname Gilligan. The rescue team set up a line, pulled him off and had him back to camp around 3 AM! What a day!
We made the judgment to spend an extra day at Dagger. By time we had the rest of the party portaged, it would be late, we would be tired and still a little "nerved" from the previous day, so we made the call to stay over. Although the whole river deserves respect, the section from Boundary to Pistol deserves more respect than one gives the god-father! So, with safety first, we spent the day playing horse shoes, cards, and making the load lighter (beer is not light...). The first night at boundary we "bumped in to" and visited with a group of Cater's as well as shared some dinner with some kayakers (a separate group). These two put-in the day we stayed over. Here is a story on the web about these two groups:
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Dan Wagner, 45, a cat-a-raft passenger from Pocatello died on the Middle Fork of the Salmon on May 22nd. The following information has been gathered from e-mail and rbp posts. Actual events may have varied.
The flow was 7.7' as the group put on at Marsh creek. Apparently a cat-a-raft with a single oarsman flipped in Murph's Hole 1.2 miles below Boundary Creek. (This is where a sweep boat flipped in 1995) The Oarsman was rescued and two boats headed down stream to recover the gear. The lead cataraft with 2 people on board flipped just above Velvet, both swimming Velvet in life jackets. The Oarsman swam to shore while the passenger floated on. The body was spotted by an individual on their deck at Pistol who then radioed the Ranger at Indian Creek. The Ranger and a pilot were able to pull the body out just at the end of the Air strip. The flipped cataraft was found around Dolly Lake (a huge eddy) at mile 19 in very bad shape. This is where the group spent the night not knowing the fate of their friend. Four kayakers joined the group that night at Dolly Lake.
The victim had all of the correct clothing for a cold water trip, but was in the extremely cold water for 2-3 hours floating to Indian Creek. was in the was in the water for several hours by the time he made it to Indian.
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If we could have changed one thing: we agreed we went down Marsh too heavy. We were fore-warned to go in light and fly some stuff in to Indian creek. We had the flights budgeted and planned for, but we were a little exuberant when loading the boats. Even once loaded, we considered unloading some and flying in but, at the flip of a mental coin, we choose to go on. Fortunately for us, all turned out well.
The trip from Boundary was as expected - wild. Careful reading of the river and proper oaring would seem to make the difference here. It was almost non-stop and fast. We actually went left of the rock at Velvet, save one boat went just right and did OK. Rest of the way was fast, big waves with nothing jumping out as critical - but that is usually the case when you either luck out or read and run correctly...or both. Pistol was washed out but was a big wavey-whirpool.
I recall seeing a camped group at I believe Dolly Lake and was surprised they had not budged yet (must have been shortly before noon). The camp seemed quite somber, could sense something was not right. After hearing what happened, was surprised they did not flag us down to send word down and see if we found anything...However, I can feel for them and the state they were in - having a missing guy and not knowing where he is.
We reached the ranger station at Indian Creek for lunch with Ranger Rick(one of the better rangers on the river). There we learned of the fate of the party before us. We had the 16ft cat and its driver fly-in and meet us there…but we were suppose to be there a day earlier...so we were late as far as he knew. Well, he helped Ranger Rick pull the body in. Imagine the ordeal he had when the Ranger pulled him over and asked him "is this any of your friends you've been waiting for?" Our guy told us the victim was a big/tall guy, maybe around 200-240lbs, 6ft-plus. He was in "perfect shape", even his sunglasses were on and unbroken.
We headed off from the station after getting checked out and camp sights assigned. Being the early season, we were surprised we did not get the camps we wanted (the other parties were willing to share the good ones with us - true generosity). Again, rest of river moved fast as expected. Most of the named rapids were in hibernation and could not be found. On the other hand, there were lots of big and huge waves where still waters lie at lower flows. As expected, the two rapids which deserve the up-most respect at high flows were hay-stack and lower-cliffside. Haystack was wild with big…er-a huge holes - I just kissed the edge of one - it didn't have my name on it but it did have my initials. We had one boat loose a guy but got him back in shortly. Haystack at 6.8ft last year was a lot more frothy than this time. We ran left and worked towards center. If my memory serves me correctly, we should have started out a little more left. I heard the right is not bad at 8ft but without scouting, I went with what was tried and true. Just below haystack, we hit Jack Creek. This section was wild! huge roller coasters, mile after mile. Some of them had to of been over 25feet from trough to peak. Felt like being on the ocean in high waves! Lets see 6-flags come close to this one!
Redside had some interesting waves and webber was asleep. Lower Cliff-side was also less frothy than last year and the holes were well defined...and huge! Well, found the hole with my name on it. I was running sweep, last day, rest of the boats hugged the left wall as planned, so I had to venture next to the hole for some action...and revenge for flipping my friend last year. Well, the hole grabbed me, spanked me and I put me upside down under the cat still in my seat...or next to it before I had a chance to get scared. Got on the bottom, eddied, flipped back over with a little help from friends and off we went...not much dead time.
Shortly after that we came to Rubber. After our kayakers set up, with there not being a decent scouting point, and seeing it last year at 6.8ft, as well as not wanting to sit around after just flipping, I jumped on to rubber right down the middle and rest followed (if I was driving a boat rather than a cat, I would have scouted first). We all did fine and got some big air. Compared to last year, the middle was more run-able this time. Last year at 6.8ft, the left have a nice shoot with 10-15ft rollers and the center was over 25ft with poppers! This time, the left seemed to be not be there and the center was a big roller coaster without any poppers. Rest of the way down was washed out. Again last year, there were quite a few holes to watch for. This time it was just float on through.
All on all, we enjoyed ourselves and had one of those trips your glad you did, can talk about, but hope not to experience again (...The Marsh experience and death in front of you...). In short, if you do the middle fork at high water; make sure you have a big boat (nothing less than 15ft, and more so, big tubes), read the river well (spot holes early on), respect the river, and are in a group that knows its limits.
a week later:
Subject: Friends leave Middle Fork trip by horseback
I just had some friends launch at Boundary on June 7 (The first
ones to go in on the road). They had to be horsepacked back out to Boundary
five days later after flipping a paddle raft and have a number of their
group (11 in all) abandon the trip and hike out.
Can you tell me about your 7.8ft trip? What that is like, my
highest level is 5.6 feet on June 16, 1993 during a snow storm. <
After successfully running what we did, part of you, at least me, wants to believe you can all but walk on water. But, when you see things like what happened both just before our trip and afterwards as well as the potential for what almost could of happened to us, it brings you down to earth and sobers you quickly. It makes me re-enforces in me that although you might be greatly skilled, the river always deserves respect, and good fortune goes to those which sow it (selah).
Subject: Re: Murtaugh at 30,000
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 18:51:03 +0000
From: Chris Barber
Hello Vince!
It was wonderful!! It was large water. I had a couple of freinds
come in from Utah who guide on rivers such as the Bio bio and Foo and say
it is the biggest they've seen from a boat, ever! We spent all morning
scouting every rapid up close and as you may know most of us can boat anything
from the "couch" so we said let's do it. I guided a 6 man team down only
to find that at some points along I wished I never left the couch. Maybelene
was HUGE along with the unnamed before Indian Ampetheatre, Duckblind was
big and the Connection was unrecocnizable due to the size and unfamiliar
(3) 20-25 ft standing waves that ended a perfect and quite possibly the
most amazing river trip ever...we were perfect that day.
We portaged Pair of Dice on the left and the few that were on the bridge and saw us(guess who?) said we should have run it...well screw that, a portage is a portage, especially when successful. There was a small bit of island but water was splashing over and when I've got 5 other lives in my boat I tend to be a very safe boater.
SYOTR SOON, CJB
Well, after a couple of weeks of pining away at what we had lost in the "Great Flood", I actually got to paddle the Main Payette yesterday afternoon.
Yes, a few of our old friends are gone.
Gone is the Main Play Wave. In its place is a fun little class III rapid with a nasty hole at the top and some nice big waves in the train. The easy route is enter left of the top hole moving right into the train. The current would like you to keep moving left, into a series of breaking "stopper" waves and holes big enough to flip you, but no nasty keepers.
I predict many swimmers from this new addition to the river.
The other major change is that God gave us a great wave for
the nice one that He took away.
Just downstream from where Mike's Hole used to be is a tremendous
nearly river wide wave. From river level it looks huge! I jumped on the
edges of it from both sides yesterday and the entrance is easier from the
river left than from the right, but doable on both sides.
I was without my head warmer, so did not play it as hard as I would like, as I DON'T like being with ice cream headaches with out the joy of eating the ice cream.
I predict, however, that this wave will get some great name and become one of the all time great play waves in the Northwest. Depends on how it reacts to changes in water level, but this is potentially one of the great ones.
I shall go and whine no more!
Wink
We were a group of four kayaks, three rowframes (gearboats), and one paddle raft. Some of our group had traveled from Washington DC and others from West Virginia, so we were all excited to run the Middle Fork. Three of our party had been down the river before, one at 4 feet and two at about 5.6 feet, so we didn't know what to expect at high water. When we all arrived in Idaho on Sunday 6/9/96 the river was at 8.5 feet and rising; it was expected to crest on Monday or Tuesday at about 9.5 feet. We heard that all commercial outfitters had canceled their trips for Monday and Tuesday, and would begin to fly people in to Indian Creek, 25 miles into the trip, when the water level dropped below 8.5 feet. Two outfitters even flew their guests off the river as it was rising.
Our original permit date was Tuesday, but almost everyone we talked to--outfitters, guides, rangers, and shuttle people--said that boating at such high water was foolish. We agreed. We canceled our permit and ran the South Fork of the Payette--the Grandjean run--on Monday and Tuesday (river level about 5500 cfs). By Wednesday the Middle Fork was coming down, and we drove to the put-in hoping the river would be low enough to run safely on Thursday, as we had picked up a canceled permit.
By Wednesday night the river was about 8.2 feet, and we scouted the first mile or so. One of our kayakers canceled at that point, and we decided to fly the paddle raft and paddle raft crew in to Indian Creek in order to avoid the heaviest water on the trip, from Boundary to Indian Creek. A second kayaker decided to fly in with the raft and put on at Indian Creek as well. The rest of the group--four kayakers and three row frames--decided that the river was runnable, and we put on on Thursday morning at 7.95 feet.
The decision to put on was difficult. Many of us had come a long way to run this river, but we recognized the importance of doing so safely. We talked to as many people as we could about the river at 8 feet, but no consensus existed. The Forest Service pulls their river patrol boats above about 7 feet; outfitters, we heard, would cancel about 8.5 (we used that as our guide); and a river ranger/kayak patroller said that 8.5 feetwas indeed runnable. We expected big water; the river was at what one Stanley resident said was a 20-year high, and there were a lot of logs, brush, and full-length trees in the river as the water rose. However, after the crest on Tuesday the water ran clean and clear, and there was very little wood floating downstream. Parties were putting on ahead of us; the Forest Service estimated that only about half of the permits were being canceled. We made our decision conservatively, and were prepared for the high, fast, very cold water and remoteness of the trip. We put on in four kayaks and three row frames at 7.95 feet, and felt safe and confident with that decision. Had the river been higher, or had we been the only ones putting on, or had the river level been rising rather than falling, we would have canceled. Our kayakers were experienced experts, and our rowers included two Gauley guides on vacation and someone who'd been tripping on the Salmon before, as well as the Grand Canyon, and I (the paddle raft captain) have been guiding commercially for 5 years. We felt our decision was responsible.
We put in at Boundary Creek. Three other groups put in a well on Thursday. We began the trip with four kayaks (Crossfire, Overflow, and 2 Frankensteins) and three rowed craft (one raft, two catarafts). I was riding along on one of the gearboats. Within the first mile we passed another group that had flipped a rowed raft and dumped four people into the water. They made it safely to shore--surprising, as two of the riders were teenagers very irresponsibly dressed for the high, cold water in shorts and t-shirts (we were in wetsuits or drysuits)--and our kayaks recovered a lost gear bag downstream. Later that day the same group flipped another raft by not rowing aggressively above Velvet Falls; we shook our heads and watched as they self-rescued. On Sunday two of that group’s three boats floated by us; I hope they decided to fly out the rest of their party. We, however, did not flip, although the water below Boundary was very high and very fast, and the waves, holes, boils, and eddylines were big. Our kayakers all felt comfortable, as did our rowers; but in my opinion a paddle raft had no place on that section at that level. I was glad we flew that in to join us below.
I don’t know the low-water character of the Middle Fork; at high
water, the first 25 miles were pushy, with many unpredictable holes, diagonal
waves, and eddylines. Still, we all felt in control, and found the level
to be safe. A long swim was probably the biggest danger; rescue would be
difficult with so much water and few clean, easily-catchable eddies. We
scouted Velvet Falls from river left; the main hole formed on river right
at the stream and extended about 2/3 of the way across the river. We chose
to run left of the huge boulder on river left; the sneak around it was
clean and relatively easy to make. At low water the rock must be run on
the right, but left worked well at 8’. We watched two boats run right of
the rock; both got stopped by a small diagonal hole forming just above
and to the right of the boulder. One raft flipped, and the other got surfed
into the left side of the main hole at Velvet. The big hole, however, was
washing through, and the raft made a clean run. Left was a good run for
us.
We intended to scout Pistol Creek rapid as well; however, our rafts
were unable to catch an eddy above it, so we ran straight on. The run was
pretty clean right down the middle, although one of our boats got stopped
and momentarily surfed on the eddyline of a huge boil forming on river
left in the lower third of the rapid. We eddied out below Pistol while
our kayakers scouted; two flipped on the same boil, and one of them swam.
The rapid was full of funny water; only one of the four kayakers felt really
good about his run.
We met our other paddlers at Indian Creek, where they had flown in, and got our permit and campsites assigned there (the rangers hadn’t set up at Boundary Creek yet). Our first campsite was Sunflower Flat, at Mile 32.9; however, the upper eddy was blocked by a log, and the lower one, just above the bend to the left, was a big swirling eddy. Our rafts entered cleanly, but one kayaker flipped and was unable to roll in the whirlpools along the eddyline. By the time we reached her her boat had drifted out into the current; one raft, too, drifted out, so we had to abandon that camp for the night (there were no eddies downstream to catch). Sunflower, I hear, is a nice camp; at 8’, however, the eddy was really tough. We ended up camping three miles downstream at Stateland Camp on river right; eddying out there required our kayakers to pull out first and catch a raft’s bowline to wrap around a tree. In fact, that’s how we made most eddies on the trip; the water was so high that there were few true eddies, only a lot of slower water up in the trees.
Day Two took us from mile 35 to mile 65; our assigned campsite was Funston, but the ranger had also assigned that site to a commercial trip who had already made camp. We continued down to Trail Camp and, again, caught our eddy with a bowline. That day we ran through Jackass Rapid and the Tappans. The waves were big and unpredictable, and there were weird eddylines and boils in that section, but the route was pretty straightforward. The paddle raft had no problems on this stretch; nor did our other boats. One kayaker, the person who swam at Sunflower, felt pretty out-of-control in the big water, but with moral (and route-finding) support from the other kayakers she made it through.
The big event of Day Three was scouting and running Haystack Rapid.
We were glad to have scouted here, because initially we would have chosen
to run eft of the hole at the top (river center) and ferried right to avoid
a huge pourover on the outside of the bend to the right; however, that
move would have been difficult, and would have exposed us to a swim over
a very shallow rock garden. We ran right of the hole at the top, following
the tongue, and ferried left around the big hole on river right at the
inside of the bend to the right. One kayaker swam here, but the rafts ran
clean. We camped that night at Woolard Creek, on the recommendation of
an outfitter who told us that our assigned campsite (Love Bar) would be
washed out. When we drifted past it the next day, we saw that it was.
Day Four brought us again to big water. One of our paddle rafters
flew out at Flying B, so we lashed a kayak to the gearboat and the kayaker
paddled in the paddle raft, giving us a total of five people in that boat.
Having seen this section now, I think we might have run cleanly with only
four of us; however, not knowing what to expect, we were glad for the extra
power and weight. The big rapids in this section were Redside, Weber, Cliffside,
and Rubber; all were characterized by huge, long wavetrains that were,
in general, pretty easy to avoid. We skirted most of this, but with warmer
water and better knowledge of the river, we might have run them. The rapids
were pretty clean.
The takeout at Cache Bar was perhaps the most difficult part of
this day. I don’t know what the flow on the Main Salmon was, but the concrete
ramp on river right formed a big pourover, with another hole and a strainer
just downstream. Trying to ferry in to the takeout could have been ugly;
we eddied out above and swung our rafts in on lines.
We ran the Middle Fork in four days; most parties do it in five, six, or even seven. We didn’t get the long days camping or many of the scenic side-hikes that the trip is known for; instead, we got a lot of excitement, high water, and challenging rapids. The decision to put on a river at, or just below, flood stage is not to be taken lightly. We were a well-trained, well-prepared crew, and took every safety measure we could, scouting when necessary (and possible), and wearing helmets and wetsuits or drysuits (which not every group we saw did). We felt prepared for whatever we might encounter; fortunately for us, the trip was great. Our runs were safe, no one got hurt, no one had a bad swim, and we lost no gear and only damaged one carabiner (trying to belay a raft into an eddy). Other groups that put on at 8’ flipped repeatedly and did lose gear; and many groups chose not to put on at all. While it was impossible for us to foresee or control all possible dangers, we felt we anticipated and prepared for enough of them to make the trip safe and fun. Besides, the risks we faced on the Middle Fork are those we all face every time we put on a river: cold water, long swims, lost or broken gear. The comfort of a riverside road or a car waiting 15 miles downstream should not (but often does) trick people into believing that maybe the risks of a particular river are not as great as they would be 75 miles away from a road and 150 miles away from a hospital. While the remoteness does add to the difficulty of risk assessment and management, it also adds to the excitement of the trip. High, unpredictable water levels are par for the course on free-flowing rivers; I was glad to be a part of a group that safely ran the Wild Middle Fork of the Salmon River.
Kurt Bouman
Department of English, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA
boum9534@uidaho.edu
http://www.uidaho.edu/~boum9534/
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The forces of nature have been at work upon the South Fork of the Payette and the main Payette this winter. Heavy snowfalls have alternated with brief spurts of unseasonably warm temperatures to produce numerous flash floods on small tributary streams. Some of the damage is hard to believe, even when you stand and look at it, so I won't attempt a description. But secondary effects on the rivers will surely interest anyone contemplating an Idaho float trip this spring or summer.
Herewith a report of impression formed yesterday.
Bronco Billy, on the Staircase run of the South Fork of the Payette was the most dramatic alteration I saw. It is no longer a straightforward little Class III rapid. A flash flood roaring down a small tributary gouged out boulders the size of bulldozers and deposited them haphazardly from top to bottom of the rapid. It now begins with a distinct horizon line, caused by a river-wide row of obstructions that form a swerving, hole-studded entrance into the main rapid. Once past the entrance ledge, much of the water is focused into a megahole, formed by a pourover into a pounding cauldron that looks about as attractive as a Yeti's armpit. Hopefully the rocks that form this unpleasant new feature will shift as spring melt brings the river to what are likely to be epic proportions. The Yeti's armpit looks like it could do some damage to anybody going into it. If there is a saving grace to be found, it is that the bottom half of the rapid looks relatively benign.
The parking lot beside Staircase Rapid was damaged, but the rapid itself seems to be largely intact. Some boulders, however, were washed down the cliff on river left and deposited in the river. One of these new additions is parked between the two big rocks that define the river left side of the top of the rapid, and undoubtedly others are strewn along the rest of the rapid's long course, but the rapid is not structurally rearranged in the manner of Bronco Billy.
Downstream of Banks, where the North and South Forks of the Payette confluence, water is currently flowing at about 7,000 cfs, so it is hard to tell how much streambed alteration has occurred. Only lower water will reveal all the changes in this section, but they are almost certainly extensive due to all the mudslides, some of them massive. One change that is observable even with 7,000 cfs is the reconfigured rapid about three-quarters of a mile below Banks. This one will definitely add some zip to the main Payette trip, especially considering its proximity to the putin. It was reconfigured by one of the largest (tributary) flash floods/mudslides. It's now a big rapid, and at 7,000 cfs it's something on the order of Class III+ difficulty (unless you land in one of its holes). It requires a relatively easy thread-the-needle move between offset hydraulics.
At least as interesting as the rapids, avalanches, and mudslides yesterday were all the elk. Deep snow has forced them down from the high country, en masse. I spotted at least two hundred of them foraging on south-facing slopes between Garden Valley and about mid-way through Blackadar Canyon, where the cliffs start getting really steep. The road through the Canyon is a mess, constantly assaulted with rock slides. Driving along it was a slalom exercise, requiring constant vigilance and dodge-and-weave tactics to avoid rocks in the road. In Lowman, another herd of elk huddled in the deep snow. It's been a hard winter.
Come paddling season, the elk will be back in their high country habitats, but vestiges of the record snowfalls will still be much in evidence in the form of rivers booming with runoff.
Monte Smith
Monte is sadly correct! What he did not tell you was that many of the friendly little play spots are GONE! From the put in to Bronco Billy is a lake! There is virtually not even a ripple left of what were some fun play spots. This is because the constriction at the top of Bronco Billy has raised the level of the river four or five feet at least. They raised the level of the road several feet to keep it above the water level.
The great eddies in Bronco Billy are GONE, including the fun one above the huge waves beneath the cliff on river left. What was once an eddy is now a shallow current, and the huge standing waves are not there either. Bronco Billy hole is mostly gone, leaving in its stead a puny imitation. Next to the killer hole about fifty yards into Bronco Billy and just barely downstream is a very sticky looking hole that appears to me to be a recirculating nightmare. I think I would rather take the brutal pounding in Yeti's Armpit (a great name by the way, I hope you can make it stick!) as it will be brutal but short. However, the swim from there would be ugly to contemplate. There is a nice line for kayaks between the two holes, but not enough room for a raft. In fact, I am very interested to see just where a raft is going to go in this rapid. I predict many ugly swims for rafters here, and much work for safety boaters.
The South Fork play hole just above Slalom is GONE! This will be sorely missed, as it was a great place to play at medium flows. The main play wave is GONE!!!! Truly trajic!!!! In its place is a poorover hole and several waves that must be caught on the fly. Totally gone are the return eddies.
Mikes Hole is GONE! There is however, a great looking wave about one hundred or so yards downstream, looks like it might be catchable, with good eddies on either side. Those are my additions to what Mr. Smith had to say. We are going to run it next weekend if the weather is good, will let you know what we find.
Wink -- Top of Page
Hey all,
Heads up for two hidden logs on the Little Salmon River (Idaho) just below where Hazard Creek (appropriately named) meets the Little Salmon. Note that their may be more logs than listed below - we only ran the first 1/4 mile of the Little Salmon (see below).
The first is sticking diagonally across the river from a large pile of logs on a gravel island on river right. The offending log blends in with the logs in the background and appears to go only partway into the river. Actually, it crosses 90% of the river, with the root ball in the water near the left shore. Very ugly and deceptive - you can't really see it from above. Worse, its right where the river drops down abruptly, so one has little time to react. Its about 3' in diameter and partly underwater.
The second strainer is about fifty feet further on, and also projects across most of the right and center of the river. This one is equally elusive, looking like it only crosses part of the river. Worse, it cannot be seen from above until you are committed. Most of the 2' diameter log is underwater, but not by much. One large branch is sticking out of the water downstream of the log. At the flow we saw (1800 cfs?), the log was creating a wave.
NEITHER OF THESE TWO LOGS CAN BE SEEN FROM THE ROAD (HIDDEN BY PINE TREES AND A BASALT BLUFF) OR FROM ABOVE WHILE ON THE RIVER. IF YOU GO TO DO THE LITTLE SALMON, WALK DOWN THE RIVER ON EITHER SIDE AND CHECK THE TREES OUT - DON'T DEPEND ON ROAD-SCOUTING TO SPOT THEM (we sure as hell didn't see them road scouting).
Both logs might be bypassed by running the shallow right channel, which requires knowing where to turn off and being able to thread holes for the entry moves at the Hazard Creek confluence. The channel looks to be a scape and drops abruptly back into the main channel below the second tree (pin spot?). Note - If you try this route, don't be fooled by the easy-looking river - ITS FASTER THAN IT LOOKS.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\0_~~~~~~~~
Enough of the serious stuff. You're probably wondering how we spotted this disaster if we couldn't see the logs from upstream and we didn't see them road-scouting the run. The answer to that lies in my partners desire to hole-play, or more specifically, the Little Salmon's desire to play with his playboat in a hole. You see, Mike was in the lead when he dropped into a sticky hole next to where Hazard Creek joins the Little Salmon (1/4 mile below the put-in at the Route 95 bridge). He tried to punch the hole, but was sucked back in. Next, as he tried to sidesurf his Frankenstein out the ends, the river entertained him by bouncing him up and down, and occasionally flipping him. I watched the struggle from an eddy on river right, trying to figure out who would prevail (I had two to one odds on Mike). Mike got to work on his 'rolling in the hole' rodeo skills, and was a bit tired when the river finally did let him go.
At this point I was contemplating the fact that we decided to run the Little Salmon (76 feet per mile, probably class III-IV, though recently remodelled by the floods) over other rivers because we wanted a relaxing break from our recent semi-epic class V Potlatch River run. I was in a borrowed high-volume, non-turning boat (a Vortex), so I wanted a chance to acclimate myself, and Mike wanted to surf waves in his Frankenstein. I felt pretty relaxed, but, alas, Mike wasn't getting the same opportunity, and, as he exited the hole, he ended up in an even less relaxing situation.
Unfortunately, Mike was shot out of the hole to river left, into a large downed fir tree. He managed to grab the tree with one hand and retain his paddle with his other as he tried to keep from getting swept over. As I ferried furiously to the other side, he managed to slide his boat over the tree to the far side, where the current was less strong. I quickly beached my boat on a gravel-bar island and pulled him up on it. At this point we were still unaware of the two strainers just downstream.
As Mike caught his breath, we looked back at the hole and tree, and discussed what had happened. He was a bit shaken up. We continued to soak up the sun (it was 60 F., clear, and sunny - this is March?) and look around. Then, as we looked downstream, we spotted the second (lower) tree, splashing in the current. From our perch on the gravel bar we could see it was bad. We quickly decided a portage was in order. As we looked around for alternate routes, we noticed the first bad log, which we had totally over looked, despite only being 30' away. Soon we realized we'd have to ferry over to river right, as their was no eddies on river left and the current was too powerful to wade.
We pulled our boats up to the top of the island and I did the 'omigod!' ferry to river right, arriving OK with adrenaline to spare. The Little Salmon, however, still wanted to toy with Mike's playboat, and endoed him as he tried to use a wave to aid in the ferry. He recovered fast and made the ferry.
Looking down the river from the safety of the shore, we decided it was actually a good thing that Mike had some minor difficulties with the hole and the tree, for we would have unknowingly zipped down into the two strainers if Mike hadn't been delayed.
We also decided we were having more fun than we really wanted, and could best relax by hitting the Jackass Flats playhole on the Main Salmon. We took out, after only doing 1/4 mile of the Little Salmon.
Happy Boating, and be careful out there,
Chris Donohue
WSU - Pullman, WA
cdonohue@wsunix.wsu.edu
"We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse."
- Anonymous
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