Guns A Blazing on the Lower Salmon

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

Mike Beckwith, "At least I held onto my oar!"

I was in the lead when we rounded the corner to face the big rapid, Snow Hole. It always gets your attention when you approach this obstacle. Today was a bit more unnerving. As we lined up to look at the run you could see the remains of a blue raft wrapped on the big rock left center of the rapid. It looked nasty and put a huge knot in my gut. I looked back at Mike Fuhrman and saw that he saw the disaster too.

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.

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.

Caroline grabbing Mike as they bounce down Snow Hole.

Peyton and one of the chukars hey shot.

Rick Aman and Terry Beckwith. 

Jim Fuhrman and Rick Aman.

Breaking waves in China Rapids.

Setting up in the run at China Rapids.

A fine example of columnar basalt!

11 Years, Main Salmon Long Time No See!

The week prior to the day we left for our trip was spent preparing food and packing. Our food night was the night everyone arrived at the Corn Creek put-in, so we spent quite a bit of time figuring out the meal and how we would serve it. We were trying to provide a special meal but we needed to make sure it was easy and could be done without a great deal of equipment. Our answer was to put together a trunk of kitchen stuff that we would leave in the truck once we served the dinner and breakfast.

Our meals of choice were a dinner of smoked pulled pork sandwiches with our Mexican pasta salad, and then breakfast would consist of Marcy’s breakfast burritos and fruit. All meals were prepared ahead and frozen so we just had to heat and serve.

Moving down the Salmon.

We left Post Falls at 6:10 am and drove to Kellogg, ID where we picked up John Karpenko. John rode over and back with us but would row John Sutherland down the river. John broke his wrist falling off a ladder earlier in the month and his doctor told him he couldn’t row his boat. The drive took us east to Missoula, Montana where we pointed south and followed Highway 93 down through Lolo and Darby. Just past Hamilton, we could see the black mountains where a forest fire burned. There were still patches of smoke rising into the air; we hoped that we wouldn’t see anything like that as we moved on down the Salmon.

We left Montana and drove back into Idaho to North Fork. At this point we turned right, heading down the Salmon River through Shoup. The road was rough and slow going in places, but following the Salmon River gave us a lot to look at and helped build our excitement toward our trip.   Our drive ended at the Corn Creek launch site where our rafting adventure began.

The Main Salmon section requires a permit and you apply for the lottery in January.  You apply for a specific launch date and pay a fee and then wait. The number of applicants for river permits is mind boggling; if you get one you are very lucky. I have never gotten a permit and I have been applying for 15 years or more.

Loretta Sutherland was our permit holder, thus she was the esteemed trip leader (ETL). We felt privileged to be invited and had been looking forward to and planning for this trip since about March.

John K. and Jim C. get their morning coffee fix. 

Corn Creek was bustling with boaters getting their gear together and into the water. They have a launch lane reserved for boaters who trailer their boats and can back in, launch and get out of the way. We have become one of the launch-and-go folks, so it took us just a few minutes to get the cat (cataraft) off the trailer and moved up stream to an area just below our camp site.

John Karpenko took the boat to its overnight spot and I drove the truck up and parked it in the camp site. We met John Sutherland and Mark Lisk as they were loading up to drive back up the road to Salmon, Idaho. When John arrived and got out of his truck, he heard a hisssss from his truck tire. He had driven over a piece of metal and it had punctured his tire. He wanted to change the tire so the shuttle driver didn’t have to deal with it. So he and Mark were on their way into the nearest town to get it fixed. The shuttling of the rigs from Corn Creek involved heading back up through North Fork, then to Lolo, Montana where they then turned west and headed up over Lolo Pass following the Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers, then to I-95 where they headed south through Grangeville and Riggins, ending at Spring Bar. It’s a long shuttle and you want your shuttle driver to have everything needed, especially a spare tire.

Our campsite at Maxwell Bar.

We set up the kitchen after the boys left and started greeting everyone as they arrived for the start of our trip.

John and Loretta Sutherland had driven over to North Fork the previous day. Their trip was quite the adventure. They had hit rain and hail and then were smacked by high winds during the night. I guess they could probably write an entire blog post about the trip and their adventures. They were the first to arrive at Corn Creek.

Mark & Jerri Lisk pulled into the put-in site not long after the Sutherlands. They had come from Southeastern Oregon. I didn’t hear that they had any problems on their drive. Jim and Claire Clift were also on the ramp when we arrived. They were sorting gear and waiting for Mike Beckwith to bring their frame. Mike Wassmuth and Lori Mader had left Post Falls at about 8:00 AM, so they had made good time and arrived next. Mike and Caroline Beckwith finally showed up. The group was all accounted for though we were still waiting for John and Mark to return from Salmon with the repaired spare tire.

While the boys were on the road to Salmon, John K. had an assignment. John S. had backed up and smashed his right tail light on the trailer. John K. was asked to replace the old light setup with a new one John S. had bought before he left Salmon on their first visit there. John K. had to do a bit of a MacGyver, but after about an hour he fixed the trailer light.

We started serving dinner and within a few minutes, John and Mark arrived… and so did the bees. Caroline B. and Linda were the first two to get stung. We had thought this might be a possible problem so the group had brought five bee catchers. Throughout the rest of the trip, we would set up the kitchen, followed by the bee catchers. Almost everyone got stung once; I was lucky and avoided contact. The first meal went smoothly and everyone got their fill.

Night came and our river team members had claimed either a spot in the campground or near the water. Once the meal was cleaned up we all hit the sack. 

Morning came very quickly and Linda and I fixed breakfast as everyone shook the sleep from their eyes. We stuffed everything away and loaded our kitchen back into the truck. Our plan dealing with the meal gear and all worked out really nice for everyone and everything fit into the back seat of the truck. As Linda tucked and tidied our boat I moved the truck up onto the road to wait for the shuttle drivers to arrive.

As we packed, the Forest Service Ranger visited and checked our group for the mandatory equipment that we needed to take with us. He asked us a few questions and then had Loretta, our trip leader, accompany him to pick up the boat permit tags for our group.  They reconfirmed our assigned camp sites and then he gave us the go ahead. It was 11:30 AM and we were off!

The tree that fell in the woods.

Most everyone had a river map to follow where the camps and rapids are marked by miles and descriptions of the areas.  Corn Creek is 46.4 (though some maps start with Corn Creek as mile 0) river miles down from North Fork Town Site and so we mark our mileage from there. Our first camp was at Blackadar, located at mile 63.4. The beach was on river left and was a nice spacious sand bar with trees providing late afternoon shade. We hit the beach, set the kitchen site up and everyone found flat spots for their tents or cots.

The tree came very close to our cots!

“When a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound?”  Shit yes, it does! We had eaten dinner and everyone was milling around getting set for bed. We heard a single crack. No one could figure out what it was or where it came from. We all thought someone in the group had broken a branch, but no one had. The dusk slipped into dark and suddenly we heard a larger CRACK and a dead pine tree shuttered. The tree was just off the sand to the upper left of the beach and leaning toward the water. Everyone had just enough time to scatter, the tree let go with a huge crash and it hit the sand. (The tree was estimated to be about 110 feet tall.) A dust cloud rose from the sand and small broken shards of tree limbs rained out and down on us. When the dust cleared the top of the tree lay within mere inches from the kitchen table. The upper trunk sunk in the sand not far from our hor d’oeuvres roll-a-table and the entire mess smashed five yards from Linda and my cots! Confirming again that yes, it made a sound!

Scouting Black Creek rapid.

Needless to say, our group didn’t sleep as soundly as they might have, and for the rest of the trip, camp sites were picked with an eye on the dead trees that lined the sand beaches.

Another beautiful morning found us moving down the river to our camp site at Allison Ranch, mile 80 on the map. We ran several good rapids and stopped to scout the run at Black Creek rapid.  It is a relatively new rapid and very deserving of a scout.  We picked our line and studied the entry. To me scouting is an evil necessity. I hate the anticipation that it creates and would rather get it over with, but seeing and knowing is very much needed, and this was one of those cases.

Another group making their run through the rapid.

Back in the boats we lined up for the run. Mike Wassmuth was first since he is still guiding on that river and knows all the runs. Loretta was next. She was running Mike Beckwith’s small cat and was relatively new to rowing that river. Next, the Lisks went, followed then by Linda and me.  By the time I got into the slot and lined up to push into the line I was pumped up!  Everything went well until I made the push around a rock and then swing around to follow the flow past the wall. I pushed too hard and we hit the wall and bounced off it. Not as clean as I wanted, but heck we made it through top side up!  The rest of the group made it through and we were off down the river.

We stopped at Barth Hot Springs and took a bit of a dip in the hot pool. The climb up was steep but well worth it!

Barth Hot Springs

The beach at Allison Ranch beach was in the shade early and we all relaxed from the day’s push.  We were visited by deer on this evening. John Karpenko went for a little hike and when he returned was challenged by a little buck. It snorted and lowered its head, but then gave way to John who just walked on by. Each night we had wonderful meals, and each kitchen crew fed us way too much food. I’ll list the meals and camps at the end so that we can keep track for future trip planning. Right now all I can say is wow, every meal was a gourmet endeavor.

Groundhog, mile 89.4, was our next campsite. The group stopped at Yellow Pine Bar where we met Greg Metz and Sue Anderson, caretakers of the Yellow Pine Bar property. Mike brought them a bottle of wine and they showed us around the place. What a beautiful homestead! We loved the many little artistic touches they had added to the grounds. Greg and Sue were in an energy conservation mode as their diesel generator was not working and water was getting low. They seemed to be taking it in stride and were only mildly concerned at this time. We stayed about an hour and enjoyed the history and beauty of the place greatly.

Sue greets us at Yellow Pine Bar.

Next, we had to run Big Mallard Rapids (83.4), Elkhorn Rapids (86.7) and several more.  I had the same thing happen to me on Big Mallard as happened on Black Creek. The adrenaline of the run caused me to push too hard in a critical spot in the run and it sent me into the wall on the left. I scrapped along and the strap holding the spare oar broke causing the oar to dip into the water. When it came up the handle was broken and so we had to re-strap it to the boat hoping we didn’t need a spare the rest of the trip.

After getting past Big Mallard and Elkhorn we visited the Campbell’s Ferry Ranch and took a tour of the old homestead. It is now a conservation site and they are working to restore the property to its origins of the past. The history of the place is definitely something that needs to be preserved and we enjoyed the stop immensely.

The beach at Groundhog was long and steep with lots of room on the bench up at the top. Our kitchen was on the flat spot that was at the upriver end near the water.  Linda and I set up a tent at this beach, instead of using our cots. The nights were very cool and we wanted to try a tent to see if we slept warmer.  Our experiment was a success; we were quite a bit warmer and so used the tent the rest of the trip.

Walking back to our boats after our visit.

Maxwell Bar Campsite (119.2 miles) would be our camp for the next evening. After camp was set, we gathered at the water’s edge where Mike W. set up a Frisbee toss game and explained the rules. We had to toss the disk and knock a beer can off the top of a pole stuck in the sand. If you knocked it off by hitting the pole you got 1 point. 2 points were awarded if you hit the can, but if the other team’s player caught the can before it hit the water, then you got no points and the other team got 1. We had some great games and the action was fierce. Clouds covered the sun and the wind picked up so it became a bit chilly. We quit the water game and folks played a round of bocce ball.

Campbell’s Ferry Ranch

The final night’s camp was a really nice spot. It was off our maps and below the usual takeout ramps. They called it Howard’s Ranch. This beach was very nice, no bees or very few, nice views and the only drawback was that it was across the river from the road out to Riggins.

Beckwiths provided a great meal and everyone enjoyed a nice sunset. We all woke the next morning and began the final job of packing our boats. There was about three miles to the take-out and all went well. Our take-out was quick and we helped the others get their boats loaded for the trip home.

There were so many more experiences, but it’s difficult to write about all of them. I picked some of the ones that really resonated with me. I also tried to be specific about camps, mileage, etc in order to facilitate any possible upcoming trips. Any mistakes are my own and I apologize to the group in advance.

Our last trip on the Main Salmon was about 11 years ago. Everything has changed; new rapids, forest fire burns, beaches, etc. We all have changed. The folks on this trip are wonderful people. It was nice to get to know the Lisks, to laugh at Mark’s hilarious stories and see Jerri’s constant smile and positive attitude.  Getting to know Lori with Mike W. was a treat. She was such a fun addition to the group and it was nice to see Mike so happy when she was near. Mike W. is a constant friend and his guidance on this trip was so appreciated. I know Linda was more at ease knowing Mike was leading us through the whitewater. Thanks, Mike!

What can you say about the Beckwiths and Clifts? We enjoyed their river tails and re-establishing our friendships. It had been way too long since our last river together; we need to do more. We’ll definitely try to visit them on one of our travels.

John K. kept the coffee coming and kept John S. afloat. Both jobs well done! It was nice talking with him a bit more in the truck on our travels to and from.

John and Loretta did a fantastic job of putting the trip together. We were so thankful to be included and have the opportunity to get on this beautiful wild river. Loretta was the champion trip leader and not a bad boatwoman either!

Linda, Mike and Lori on the Frances Zaunmiller Pack Bridge.

Maybe we will be able to get on the water as a group again; I certainly hope so! Thanks to everyone. You made this trip a wonderful adventure! You all are invited to visit us in Mexico whenever the travel bug hits you. We’d love to see you.

Lori and Caroline enjoying camp.

Jerri looking contemplative...

We visited Buckskin Bills and had ice cream.

The beach at Five Mile Bar.

Beckwith looking for his next soap box.

Running the South Fork of the Salmon River.

Mike and Lori tackle the South Fork.

Sitting at the mouth of the South Fork of the Salmon River.

Frisbee fun and games.

SCORE!

Maxwell Bar looking down river.

Meals:

Put-in Night – Bennetts – Smoked Pulled Pork with Mexican Pasta Salad

First Night – Wassmuth/Mader – Kung Pow Chicken, orange chicken, egg rolls and rice

Second Night – Sutherlunds – Salmon, rice, cole slaw

Third Night - Lisks – Barbecue Tri-tip, quinoa

Fourth Night – Karpenko – Elk pesto pasta, bread, salad

Fifth Night – Clifts – Fajitas and Tamales

Sixth Night – Beckwiths – Chicken PestoTortellini, 3-bean salad