Linda and I were sitting in the Jeep at Fred Meyer when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and did a double take. What a blast from the past, a call from Steve Fitzgerald! I answered and Steve (Fitz) explained that some of our friends were getting together for a cast and blast raft trip down the Lower Salmon River. He invited me and I said that it sounded good but I needed to talk to Linda before I could answer.
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| We ready our gear at the Hammer Creek boat launch. |
Over the next two days, I gathered all the facts. Linda said it was up to me and that I could go if I wanted. Well, of course, I wanted to go! Linda was also invited but she had plans in Cd’A and she needed to stay home.
I walked next door and asked my neighbor, Steve Nelson, if he would be interested and he said yes immediately.
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| Mike Beckwith stows his gear. |
So we drug the cat out, packed the needed supplies, strapped on fishing poles and a shotgun and headed down to the put-in at Hammer Creek.
Steve and I were the first to arrive. There were a few rafters putting on the river and we chatted with them as we unloaded our cat and organized our gear. An hour and a half later the group began to arrive. Mike and Caroline Beckwith were the first to hit the boat launch. They launched their raft and started the process of loading and strapping down the gear.
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| Steve Fitzgerald and Jim Soon. |
About a half hour later the rest of the gang arrived. Mike Fuhrman and Charlotte backed their trailer loaded with Mike’s cat and Jim Fuhrman’s raft, down to the river’s edge. While the Fuhrman’s rigged their boats, Steve Fitzgerald and Jim Soon, and Terry Beckwith and Rick Aman worked on their boats up in the parking lot. Once everything was in order the boats were launched and our group was set. All together we were a group of three cats and three rafts filled with eleven excited boaters.
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| I am ready and waiting! |
We launched at about 1:30 PM and floated down to our first camp at about mile 3.1 from Hammer Creek, setting up our gear on Lyons Bar.
Mike and Charlotte made a great dinner of grilled chicken breasts with all the trimmings. Everyone was talking and getting to know each other. It was a fun-filled evening.
Next day we floated down to the Indian pictographs by Shorts Bar. The boys, Peyton and his brother, and everyone who had never been there hiked up and found the native paintings. It was a good stop. As a group, we moved on down through the Green Canyon. Everyone handled Wright–way Drop, Demons Drop and Pine Bar Rapids as we floated on down and on to the part of the river with no roads to bother us.
Our second night was spent on the beach on river right just 200 yards above Killer Goat Beach, about mile 34. It had been a long day of fishing and chukar hunting. Terry Beckwith provided stew and garlic bread. We all hit the sack early. Our arms were a bit tired and we needed to be ready for our next day’s float.
Once packed and ready we moved on into Cougar Canyon and started the rapid section of the trip. We ran rapids with names like Cliff Side, Pipeline, Lorna’s Lulu, and Upper and Lower Bunghole Rapids. We gathered up for a quick lunch at White House Bar and then continued deeper into Snow Hole Canyon.
As we moved on down the river the chukar count increased. There were more chukars down near the water than I have ever seen. It took us longer to move due to the bird hunting, but what were we here for if not that?
Harm’s Hole Rapids lead us to Bodacious Bounce and then into Half and Half Rapids. Of all the runs during the trip, the one down Half and Half was my worst. Not a huge problem, but I just didn’t like my angle through the lower part of the run. I sort of went sideways instead of straight. Oh, well…
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| Mike Beckwith, "At least I held onto my oar!" |
With all the initial adrenaline of running a big rapid and the surge provided by knowing someone made a big mistake, I set up for our run. We approached and looked at the tooth rock on the right and I let us drift down just left of the little pour-over rock on the upper right center of the run. Then when I was satisfied I would not get stuck in the top rock, I pulled like hell and brought the boat into a cross-river ferrying angle. One, two, three, huge pulls and the boat slid left and centered up. I dipped my oars and swung us down pointing straight into the chaotic mess ahead and pushed with everything I had. We dropped through the whitewater and bounced passed the mess! I let out a holler and pulled the boat into the big eddy on the right at the bottom of the run.
Next to the run came Mike Fuhrman followed by Fitz and then Jim Fuhrman. All followed our line and had great runs.
Mike and Terry Beckwith were next. They were a bit behind us because Mike waited for Terry who had lagged behind due to chukar fever.
Mike approached the rapid but entered it much farther to the left than the rest of the boats. This entry placed him into the heart of the rapid and closer to the hidden boulders near the bottom of the run. He made it past the entry rocks and was heading down the middle of the run when his boat caught on a boulder and spun halfway around. When it dropped over the rock Mike bounced up and out of the rear left corner of the boat. He held hard to his oar and came up immediately. Caroline had noticed his departure and scrambled quickly to grab his hand and then pulled him into the boat. 
Steve Nelson and I were in the eddy holding as safety boat and were ready to follow Mike if his boat had flipped. When we saw him appear in the rapid and then was grabbed by Caroline we stayed put knowing Mike was safe and the rest of our group would lend a hand collecting anything he had lost during his swim.
Terry entered the rapid in the same spot as Mike. Well, not exactly the same spot. Terry’s run was about four feet right of Mike’s and he missed the hidden boulder and had a clean run. Steve and I followed as Terry pushed to catch up with the group. We stroked downriver and spotted a shoe floating in an eddy. We cleaned up the yard sale and caught up with Mike, delivering his right shoe completing the pair. Later Mike confessed all he lost was his hat and a bit of his swagger.
The group continued on down stopping whenever the sounds of chukar were heard. We stopped for the night at Lower Maloney. Mike and Caroline prepared a wonderful dinner of fresh Alaskan salmon. I have to admit that Mike was the target of many comments after his run; it was compounded when Steve Nelson brought out his phone with evidence of the mishap. Mike took it all in stride knowing that if it had happened to anyone else on the trip they would be hearing the same; all in good fun.
As the trip progressed so did the fish and bird count. We moved on down the river stopping to hunt birds and taking in the spectacular panoramas of this lower river section. Chukars were so abundant that we moved slower than expected. Our next beach ended up being above Wapshilla Creek.
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| Makes your gut clench when you see this! |
As we pulled around the corner to the beach we had set out to get, we noticed two boats on the upper end of the beach. This beach is huge and the two boats made it look bigger. The three guys were sitting in chairs next to their rafts. Fitz landed and asked them if they were staying. They said yes, and Fitz asked if they minded if we shared the lower half of the beach. It was late and the next beach was a couple miles downriver. First, they said yes they cared, and Fitz said OK and started to walk away. Then they called him back and said it was OK. I think they noticed the six boats and felt guilty for having the huge beach with just the three of them.
We were prepared to move on and felt guilty ourselves for asking, but it all worked out. They actually walked upriver around the corner to a nice small beach and set up their camp. It probably was their correct choice due to their group size. Linda and I are very careful that we don’t take any big beaches whenever we do solo trips. It is just a good karma builder to leave the large beaches to bigger groups.
A camp was set and the guys cleaned all the birds and fish. For appetizers, we ate fresh chukar breasts and bass rolled in cracker crumbs and fried on the grill. Man, that was delicious. Fitz and Jim F. provided a great taco dinner and we stuffed ourselves. Every evening on this trip was spent laughing and reminiscing about past adventures. On most nights we all were in bed by 9:00 PM.
We were up early and on the river by 9:00 AM. We pushed down to the confluence to the Snake River and the Lower Salmon. Mike and Jim Fuhrman rafted up with Fitz and used Mike’s boat motor to rumble out. I connected to Mike Beckwith’s boat and we rafted on to Terry’s boat and we were off downriver. The wind was strong and so we were very glad to have motors to push us down to Heller Bar and the takeout. |
| Hang on to that stick, Beckwith! |
At the ramp, we loaded up and said our goodbyes. It was a super Fall Classic Cast and Blast. The best hunting we have ever had! The weather was superb. You can’t beat the Lower when the weather is good and the river is running clear.
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| Rick Aman and Terry Beckwith. |
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| Jim Fuhrman and Rick Aman. |
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| Breaking waves in China Rapids. |
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| Setting up in the run at China Rapids. |
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| A fine example of columnar basalt! |
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