2 Minutes 10 Seconds

It was a very disappointing phone call from our friend Rayelle that gave us the good and bad news. The good news was that an unexpected surgery for her father-in-law had been successful. The bad news was that recovery was going to take longer than they first thought. Our good friends could not join us for our quest for the total eclipse of the sun.  

Our campsite at Fish Creek.

Our plans had developed a few months earlier when we were having dinner with Mike, Rayelle and Julia. They talked of this event, a total eclipse, that hasn’t happened in 26 years.  Linda and I were “in” as soon as they mentioned traveling south to try to get into the path of totality or what is called the "umbral cone".

Plans started forming. We would drive down together and find a campground where we could stay the night of the 20^th of August and then the next morning get up and drive into the area of totality.

Breakfast of tater tot egg wheels.

Linda next to Fish Creek, I think.

Linda and I then took a trip to the coast and when we returned we drove through Oregon and visited some friends, Mark and Jerri Lisk, at their home in Adrian, Oregon. We were sitting around talking when Jerri asked us if we were going to view the total eclipse from somewhere. We said that we were planning to travel back down to chase the "umbral cone" and they suggested that we stay at their place. They would be gone during the event and we would have their entire driveway to ourselves. We accepted the offer and called the Andersons letting them know that we had a place that would play host to the eclipse-chasers.

That was our plan.  What turned out was quite a bit different. The Andersons had to stay home due to the extended hospital stay of Mike’s dad. Mark and Jerri had their trip canceled so they would be home when we arrived. By this point, Linda and I were so ready to get back on the road that we left a couple days early for the drive south.

The killer bunny that haunted our campsite.

Grangeville from the road leading down from the CG.

We left Post Falls at about 10:00 AM on the 17^th of August. Linda had been looking over maps and we had decided that we should drive the beautiful yet winding highway 95 through Idaho.  A campground caught Linda’s eye. This spot was located just southeast of Grangeville. Grangeville was the halfway point of our trip, so this made the spot a really good choice.  On top of that, the campground was maintained by the Forest Service so with our “Geezer” pass we would only pay half price. Finally, the campground was named Fish Creek Campground so I could fish and we had visions of sitting by the cool clear water eating dinner and watching deer cooling off on the hot days of August. Yes, we are dreamers!

We arrived at the outskirts of Grangeville and Linda guided us around the town and up a steep grade into the National Forest. We passed the city-owned ski area of Snowhaven and turned into Fish Creek Campground. After a tour of the camp sites, we chose a very nice private one and set up our rig. Linda went and paid the $6.00 per night (Ya gotta love the Geezer Pass!) fee and we went for a tour of the area.

Mark celebrated our arrival with a small bonfire!

Map of Adrian and surrounding area.

The sun had set and the air was becoming cooler. We walked around the campground and followed a few trails. We found a very small creek, but it was too small for fish. Dusk had enveloped us so we returned to the camper and fixed dinner.  We sat outside and ate and then turned in early, reading until our eyes drooped shut.

Next day we explored more and found that the little creek we’d seen the day before was Fish Creek.  There would be no fishing; however, we did spook a small deer that was drinking from the trickling water.  We went for several hikes and explored the area. It was a nice quiet campground so we had a very relaxing two days at the halfway point of our adventure.

The chosen view at Snively.

Back on the road, we listened to “Following Atticus” a book on CD by Tom Ryan. Linda spent her time checking maps and drying tears as we drove and listened to a wonderful story about a man and his dog.  I truly think listening to books on CD is one of our favorite things about driving. Linda will stop the CD and we discuss what is happening or where the story might be going. It makes the day’s drive very enjoyable.  This book hit home in many ways. The author/dog owner told a story where both he and his dog made life changes so that each could live happier lives. I thought about our Kobi many times during the book and knew that we had made our dog much happier by providing him a stable life in secure surroundings.

Mark sets up his gear before the event.

Arriving in at the Lisks’ home on the Snake River, we set up and started the plans for viewing the total eclipse on August 21^st.

Mark had some ideas so as we made barbecue ribs, we plotted our Sunday of scouting the best viewing spot. We talked about seeking totality and looked up what we thought the area around Adrian would darken down to, it looked like if we stayed around here we would get about 99.3% darkness. Traveling north to Weiser, Idaho would take us an hour. This would guarantee total eclipse but we really didn’t want to get involved with the traffic and trying to find a spot to settle down on. In the end, we chose to stay around where we were and Mark had a few ideas for good photography locations.

We had a great dinner of barbecue ribs. Jerri made her secret BBQ sauce that she acquired while on a spy mission.  Salad and quinoa topped the meal off. You couldn’t ask for a better meal.

The next morning we loaded into their truck and drove up the Owyhee River to the dam where we checked out the two campgrounds that were on the banks of Owyhee Lake.  On the way back, Mark pulled off the road at Snively Hot Spring. The area provided a great river view and if the sky was clear, a perfect area for viewing the eclipse.

Back at the place, Mark gathered his cameras, batteries and other photographic equipment. I did the same, but it only took me a minute and I was ready for the morning. We had another great dinner and went to bed ready for “E” Day!

The next morning we once again loaded into the truck. This time we had cameras, tripods, chairs, food and drinks and most importantly, six sets of special eclipse viewing glasses. We drove into Adrian and stopped to talk with the local welding crew at Martin Manufacturing.  Mark reminded them to wear their welding masks if they watched the eclipse and then just before he left he told them to take the day off.  The owner was standing right there and of course thought, Mark was pretty funny.

On to our site at Snively Hot Spring we drove. We laughed about all the photos we could take with different animals and people looking up at the sun with the special eclipse viewing glasses on. Dogs and cows were probably our favorite subjects, but nothing was off limits for this event.

We set up our chairs as Mark picked his spots and distributed his equipment.  He chose to capture the event with his digital camera connected to a special box that, from what I could gather, did everything needed for the post production of time-lapse video. He also set up his new GoPro Hero 5 and set it to capture a time-lapse of the event. Both cameras were set up on tripods and each was set to capture two total hours of the eclipse event.

When Mark finished his set up, I chose a rock, placed a sock carefully upon it, and then set my GoPro Hero 3 on it and leveled it to what my eye said was the right level.  At the precise time, I started the camera and then let it capture a photo every second for the next two hours. In all, I captured over 6400 photos that I later turned into a time lapse video of the eclipse.

With all three cameras set up and capturing photos, we settled in and started watching the event unfold.

Taken prior to totality.

As predicted by astronomers decades in advance, the moon shadow arrived with perfect accuracy and started making its way across the face of the sun. The event would last about 2 hours and 38 minutes total and we would be able to see about 1 minute and 23 seconds of 99.3% totality at precisely 11:25 am. (It is amazing what tools were on the internet that allowed us to gather these little facts.)

Taken during totality.

During the event, we watched through our special eclipse viewing glasses and followed the progress of the moon.  As the sun grew closer to the 99.3% totality, we were surrounded by an eerie darkness/duskiness and the temperature around us dropped significantly. Without a thermometer we figured it dropped more than ten degrees. It was so weird! 

Right before the total eclipse, little snake-like shadows appeared to slither across some white paper that Jerri had placed upon the ground. We danced in front of the paper and our shadows waved about. We poked holes in paper and watched the eclipse display half-moons of shadow.  Everything around us got quiet and Linda and Jerri said that they heard crickets chirping. It wasn’t completely dark, but dark enough. We stood there taking it all in, not really knowing what to say.

Notice the change in brightness?

The event ended as quietly as it had begun. We packed up the equipment and headed for the local watering hole, The Mirage. Mark entered the bar with his special eclipse viewing glasses on and got a good laugh from the bartender. We had a couple of drinks, ate some snacks and then wandered on across the river to home.

Hole shows the moon over the sun.

Mark and I started processing our time-lapse videos and Jerri and Linda fixed dinner. We were joined at dinner by a friend of the Lisks, Trudy. We talked and ate as the sun set over the ever-changing view of the Snake River before us.  Trudy left and we cleaned up and went to bed.

The next morning we said our good-byes, thanked the Lisks profusely and headed north. We drove 375 miles straight home with only a couple short stops along the way.  As we drove, we finished our book and talked about how great the whole eclipse experience was. Would we do it again? Absolutely! Setting our sights on April 8^th, 2024.

Texting Linda's sister, the Andersons and Edwards.

Hard to work with these things on.

It took us a while to drive back home wearing these things!

Our hosts for the eclipse.

The Way Back

Waking up at Tumalo State Park, just outside of Bend Oregon, we fixed a quick breakfast and took off to find our friends house in Redmond.  Shawna E. had been in contact with us during our trip down to Eugene. She was home and recovering from having a couple wisdom teeth removed.  Things went well for her and so we decided to make a quick stop to visit. I also wanted to tease her about her chipmunk cheeks. We all know how good folks look the first few days after they have oral surgery.

We had a great talk and I didn’t tease her too much.  She is such a great friend. She makes us laugh a lot.

Leaving Redmond we drove to Prineville, Mitchell, Dayville Mount Vernon, John Day, Prairie City, Bates, Unity, Mountain Time Zone, and Ironsides. Wait a minute did we just switch time zones? That will push our arrival an hour later! A quick TXT to the Lisk’s  and on to Brogan, Vale, and then finally Adrian, where we located our friends, Mark and Geri Lisk’s house and staked out camp. Yes, we were a bit late, but that just allowed the sun to sink a bit lower into the skies over the Snake River.

We sat next to the Snake and talked until almost dusk. What a relaxing way to end our drive. Linda and I fixed dinner and we ate in the cooling night breezes.  By 9:00 PM we were all ready for bed and so we retired.

Selfie at our stop in McCall.

In the morning Geri and Linda went for a run together and I watched Mark futz with his camera equipment. When the ladies returned we had a community breakfast of granola and yogurt. It was getting on to 10:00 AM and Linda and I needed to hit the road. We hugged and said our goodbyes. Linda got directions and we promised to get together again as soon as we could.

We followed Roswell Road to Parma and then continued on road 20/26 to New Plymouth, then Highway 52 to Emmett and on to Horseshoe Bend, Idaho.  That entire route was new to us so we really enjoyed the exploration.

From Horseshoe Bend, we scampered North on Highway 55 past Cascade, Donnelly and into McCall. Our plans called for a slow restful drive up to a campsite between Riggins and New Meadows, spend a night and then on to the Salmon River where we would spend another night somewhere near Slate Creek or Twin Bridges.

Payette Lake in McCall.

In McCall, we received a TXT that informed us that there was a big Cinco de Mayo party at Holly and Ryan’s house Friday. BOOM! We changed gears and changed our plans. Instead of stopping early, we drove to the campground at Twin Bridges on the Lower Salmon and set up for the night. How can you pass up Mexican food and margaritas on cinco de mayo!

It was 92 degrees in camp on the Lower Salmon. Our spot was in the shade and we enjoyed sitting in the cooler areas around our camper. Linda beat me in cribbage and we are dinner. We went to bed by 9:00 PM listening to an owl hooting along the river’s edge.

Morning brought a change. Rain! Can you believe that we are having more rain? We quickly packed up and were on the road. The drive was uneventful. We were home and unpacked by 1:15 PM.

It was hard to stay focused on our jobs as we uncluttered the camper. Our thoughts were on Kobi and once again we choked back a few tears. Our solace is that we know that he has been relaxed and enjoying all the attention from his new family. 

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