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In February 2006, several BRRR members and
friends from California and Colorado applied for permits on the
Selway, Middle Fork Salmon, and Green rivers for various days in the
week beginning 9 July 2006. Having no luck in the permit lotteries,
we continued to check for cancellations on the Middle Fork and
Green. We didn’t check the Selway since with only one launch per
day getting a cancellation there would have been highly unlikely.
When our quest for cancellations also failed,
we executed our backup plan which included an overnighter on Bear
Valley Creek/Upper Middle Fork Salmon, an exploratory road trip
between Bear Valley Creek and Riggins via Warren and Bergdorf hot
springs, and a three to five day float on lower Salmon below Hammer
Creek.
Our Lynchburg BRRR contingent included Howard
Kirkland, Danny Booker, Eric Morgan, and David Morgan. The
following is a trip chronology:
1900, 6 July 2006 – Departed Howard Kirkland’s
house in his Ford Excursion with trailer.
1400, 7 July 2006 – Arrived St Joseph, MO.
Here we departed from our standard route west for an excursion into
KS along US36. Our objective was Alcove Springs located south of
Marysville at the Pony Express and wagon train crossing of the Big
Blue. According to David’s research, Alcove Spring was one of the
few “natural wonders” in KS.
1600, 7 July 2006 – Arrived Alcove Springs.
From all the signs vectoring us in the last few miles, we expected a
gusher. However after walking up the draw and locating the spring,
Howard declared it more a seep than a spring. When Eric ask how
wagon train folks found the time to carve their names and other
inscriptions so deeply into the local limestone, Howard replied they
did it while waiting on their water containers to fill at the
spring. David, who had recommended the excursion, felt especially
chummed.
0900, 8 July 2006 – Arrived Montpelier, ID.
Battery light had illuminated about 70 miles short of Montpelier
indicated another failed alternator. Fortunately the Montpelier Car
Quest had the alternator we needed and after breakfast we install
the replacement and were on our way.
1300, 8 July 2006 – Arrived Malad Gorge on I84
just west of Twin Falls, ID. Malad Gorge is about a mile long and
cuts deeply into the lava of the Snake River plain as it enters the
Snake. Apparently at one time it was part of the Snake.
1600, 8 July 2006 – Arrived Cascade Outfitters,
Boise, ID. Howard needed to shop. After leaving Cascade
Outfitters, purchased needed food stuffs from local Wal-Mart and,
being ahead of schedule, decided to explore the South Fork Boise.
2100, 8 July 2006 – Arrived US Forest Service
(USFS) campsite along South Fork Boise. Our route from Boise
followed Black Creek Road over the arid mountain range on the
northern flank of the Snake River plain between Boise and Mountain
Home. The backside of the range was forested with running water in
the lower stream beds. When we reached the South Fork, we found a
beautiful river flowing through a lava gorge. After crossing the
river (the take out), we moved up and across a 10 by 20 mile camas
prairie before again descending to the river about six miles south
of the small community of Prairie.
1000, 9 July 2006 – Put in at the last public
launch site above the 16-mile South Fork Boise gorge. We had
arranged for a shuttle ($40) at the bar/restaurant/store in Prairie.
1400, 9 July 2006 – Took off the South Fork
Boise gorge run. First eight miles of run was just fast current
with beautiful scenery. Last eight miles was almost continuous
class 2/3 whitewater in a scenic lava gorge. Two long class 3+ were
thrown in for good measure along with a log jam requiring portage.
This run would make a great overnighter. There is a beautiful
campsite just above the first class 3+.
0900, 10 July 2006 – Departed campsite along
South Fork Boise. There are about 12 numbered campsites in the
12-mile stretch between the South Fork Boise dam and the head of the
South Fork Boise gorge. Due to its proximity to the Boise and
Mountain Home population centers and lack of serious whitewater,
this stretch is a mecca for drift boats and trout fishermen.
1100, 10 July 2006 – Arrived Middle Fork
Boise. We were here to explore and found killer washboard road.
Cut exploration short due to road conditions and headed for Boise.
Howard needed a replacement camera.
1300, 10 July 2006 - Arrived Boise. Bought
additional food stuffs, i.e., beer. Discovered we had a flat (the
first of many) and had it fixed. Howard purchased new camera.
1700, 10 July 2006 – Arrived Bonneville USFS
campground. Bill and Cathy West, our friends from California, were
already in the campground. We had a nice dinner and visited the hot
springs.
1000, 11 July 2006 – Arrived Fir Creek
campground on Bear Valley Creek in headwaters of Middle Fork Salmon
country. After deciding there was just enough water to run, we set
the shuttle and prepared for the run.
1500, 11 July 2006 – Departed Fir Creek
campground. Bill and Cathy were in a 18 foot cat hereafter know as
Big Bird, Danny and Howard were on the BB61, and David and Eric were
on the Revolution. Eric, of course, was fishing.
1600, 11 July 2006 – Arrived Bear Valley hot
spring (about three miles down from Fir Creek campground put in).
Overnighted at Bear Valley Hot Aprings. Enjoyed the hot springs and
had a nice meal. David discovered he had holed the Revolution on
run down and did what patching he could.
1000, 12 July 2006 – Departed Bear Valley hot
spring. About a mile below the Bear Valley hot spring, we reached
the confluence with March Creek. Middle Fork Salmon begins at this
confluence. Marsh Creek appeared to bring about twice the flow of
Bear Valley Creek and somewhat alleviated the low water conditions.
1300, 12 July 2006 – Arrived Log Jam Rapid.
This rapid gives you the greatest problem on the entire run at low
water. The upper section is well organized and constricts down to
about 1/5 the rivers overall width. However by the time you reach
the bottom about 75 feet below, the flow is spread over the entire
river width again. It is a case of pick the rock you think you can
slide over. Just below the rapid, there is a faint odor of sulfur
indicating the possibility of a hot spring in the area. We will
have to explore this next time.
1400, 12 July 2006 – Took off Middle Fork
Salmon at Dagger Falls. While the take out and low water worked us,
we really enjoyed the scenic, 14-mile class 3 run. Also, Eric
caught many nice rainbows. We will be back.
1600, 12 July 2006 – Departed Dagger Falls. We
were headed for Yellow Pine, Warren, Bergdorf, and then Riggins on
the back roads, i.e., dirt roads. Our planned route was Forest Road
(FR) 579 west from Bear Valley, FR 413 to Yellow Pine, FR 340 from
just east of Yellow Pine to Edwardsburg, FR 340 from Edwardsburg to
Warren, ID 21 from Warren to junction with FR 246, FR 246 through
Bergdorf (it has a commercial hot spring) to junction with FR 103
approximately 20 east of Riggins, and then FR 103 to Riggins.
1700, 12 July 2006 – Pulled over and examined a
pickup laying on its roof over the side of one of the many curves on
FR 579. After finding the wreck unoccupied, we discover another
flat on Howard’s pickup. Our field patch effort did not work so we
had to install the spare.
1900, 12 July 2006 – Arrived Yellow Pine, ID.
Yellow Pine is truly an authentic, outback Idaho town. Most folks
that visit fly in. There is only one store and one restaurant.
Store had closed at 1700 and did not open until 0900 next day.
Dinner at restaurant took us about two hours.
2100, 12 July 2006 – Departed Yellow Pine and
moved to a USFS campground just south of town. Rapids in Big
Johnson Creek sang us to sleep.
0700, 13 July 2006 - Awoke to discover another
flat on Howard’s Excursion. Pumped it up and headed to Yellow
Pine. We had noticed a tire repair station in front of the lone
Yellow Pine store.
0900, 13 July 2006 – Arrived Yellow Pine, ID
again. Discovered tire-fixing man had the day off. Ate breakfast.
Met a local, Dennis Heech, who allowed us to use his tire repair
equipment. He even had a used tire we purchased to replace the one
of Howard’s that could not be repaired. With all the tire problems,
we decided to head for McCall and hard-surface road.
1100, 13 Jul 2006 – Departed Yellow Pine and
headed toward McCall along the East Fork South Fork Salmon. The
East Fork South Fork Salmon has some great runs. You 'yakers should
check it out.
1200, 13 July 2006 – Arrived Lick Creek
Summit. This was a lovely range of mountains. They reminded many
of us of Yosemite with its white granite and domes. On way up Lick
Creek, we found where someone had tried to run Lick Creek in a Ford
Econoline.
1300, 13 July 2006 – Arrived McCall. Howard
decided to wait on tires. Moved on through McCall to New Meadows
and had lunch.
1600, 13 July – Arrived White Bird, ID. On way
in, we had picked up some food stuffs in Riggins, used the SCAT
machine in Riggins, and scouted the Hammer Creek put in on the lower
Salmon. We spent the night in the Chief White Bird Motel and
arranged for the shuttle ($120 per vehicle).
1000, 14 July 2006 – Met remainder of our party
(Jason West and Corrie Bruner from Colorado Springs and Dennis
Lillis from California) and moved to Hammer Creek put in. With
river level at 9,000 CFS, we did not have to worry about Slide Rapid
and were going to run all the way to Heller Bar on the Snake.
1300, 14 July 2006 – Headed down river. We had
self-permitted ourselves at the BLM kiosk flanking the launch ramp
and assured the BLM man we had all the required items, e.g.,
groover, fire pan, shovel, etc. Our boat compliment included
Howard, Danny, and Eric in the fully-loaded BB61; David in a loaded
Shredder, Bill and Cathy in a loaded Big Bird; Jason and Corrie in
an empty Soar; and Dennis in a lightly-loaded ducky. We were packed
and loaded for a five day, 70-mile trip.
1500, 14 July 2006 – Camped at Pine Bar (9.7
miles below Hammer Creek put in). On way we had encountered two
class 3 rapids and many long, fun class 2 wave trains. We camped so
early to avoid competition for camp sites as several groups had put
in at or about the same time we did.
1000, 15 July 2006 – Departed campsite.
1300, 15 July 2006 – Camped at Packers Creek
(19.3 miles below Hammer Creek put in. Charming campsite on a high,
level sand shelf with plenty of early afternoon shade. However as
the afternoon progressed, the shade disappeared causing the place to
be designated “Oven Camp.” Not until the sun dropped below the
western mountains did the sand begin to cool. After the class 3
immediately after our previous night camp, all we encountered were
long, bouncy class2s on the way down.
0930, 16 July 2006 – Departed campsite. We had
a long day planned since we had only gotten in 20 miles on the first
two days.
1200, 16 July 2006 – Arrived Snow Hole Rapid.
Snow Hole is rated a class 4 so we stopped and scouted on the left.
Nice open run from upper right to just right of center was obvious.
Everyone made run with no problem.
1300, 16 July 2006 – Arrived China Rapid.
China Rapid is rated a class 3 but it is in a blind curve. We
stopped and scouted on the left. As recommended by several folks
with whom we had talked, we decided to “count the spiders on the
left bank.” Everyone made the run with no problem.
1400, 16 July 2006 – Camped at Billy Creek
(36.4 miles below Hammer Creek put in). The Nez Perce once used
this area as a ford.
0900, 17 July 2006 – Departed campsite.
Another long day planned including the passage through Blue Canyon.
1100, 17 July 2006 – Arrived Slide Rapid. As
promised in the guide books, at flows below 10,000 CFS the Slide is
hardly a riffle. It was easy to see why BLM does not recommend the
run over 15,000 cfs.
1130, 17 July 2006 – Arrived Eye of Needle
Rapid. Although only rated a class 3, it requires a little extra
caution. We scouted from boat and identified the run to the right
of the center rock.
1200, 17 July 2006 – Arrived at confluence with
Snake. After confluence, we began the 20 mile trip down “Lake
Snake.” Although slower than the Salmon, the amount of current in
the Snake was surprising. We made a good eight miles before we
camped.
1400, 17 July 2006 – Camped at Cottonwood Creek
(60.4 miles below Hammer Creek put in). We got off the water before
the afternoon wind strengthened.
0900, 18 July 2006 – Departed campsite. We
were trying to beat the upstream wind.
1300, 18 July 2006 – Arrived Heller Bar (72
miles below the Hammer Creek put in). All our vehicles were parked
in the lot as promised by the shuttle folks at Chief White Bird
Motel. We quickly packed up and headed down the Snake to Asotin,
WA. In Asotin we caught WA 129 and headed south into the Wallowa
country. In our rush through Asotin, we forgot to use the SCAT
machine. Can you guess what we carried all the way back to VA?
1500, 18 July 2006 – Arrived Boggins Oasis on
the Grande Ronde. The run south from Asotin to this crossing of the
Grande Ronde takes you up across another camas prairie and the
switchback road coming down to the Grande Ronde is thrilling to say
the least. Of course, you know there is going to be another one as
good as if not better to take you up the other side. The burgers
and shakes at Boggins Oasis are classics. Give them a try if you
ever find yourself in that neck of the woods.
1800, 18 July 2006 – Arrived Joseph, OR in the
heart of the Wallowa/Nez Perce country. Joseph and Enterprise are
located in a beautiful high valley with snow covered mountains all
around. This place deserves a visit all its own. Visitors to this
area have one big problem. You can’t get to it from the east
because you are interdicted by 200-mile long Hell’s Canyon of the
Snake and passage from the south, while possible, is very
difficult. So you are left with entering and leaving from either
the west or the north. It is a very secluded area. Dennis, Jason,
and Corrie parted way with us here.
2000, 18 July 2006 – Arrived at USFS campground
on headwaters of Imnaha. We planned an exploratory drive down the
Imnaha the next day.
1000, 19 July 2006 – Departed campground and
headed down Imnaha to the town of Imnaha. While a beautiful little
class 2 stream (class 3 with a foot more water), it runs though a
farming valley where there are as many irrigation booms across the
river as there are strainers.
1200, 19 July 2006 – Arrived Imnaha, OR. Here
we realized the “wild” section of the Imnaha is located between the
town of Imnaha and its confluence with the Snake. We decided to
scout it another day.
1300, 19 July 2006 – Departed Imnaha, OR. We
headed back towards Joseph and as we turned south on Forest Road 39,
we parted company with Bill and Cathy. Our route took us south to
Halfway, Richlands. and 50 miles of bad road along the Snake with
another flat before we got to I-84 near Huntington, OR.
0100, 20 July 2006 – Arrived USFS campground on
Snake near Swan Valley, ID. Campsite was mostly occupied by
fishermen. This is another drift boat section of the Snake.
0800, 20 July 2006 – Departed campground for
Grand Canyon of the Snake located west of Jackson, WY.
1000, 20 July 2006 – Arrived put in for Grand
Canyon of Snake run. Howard ran his kayak and Eric ran the Schreder.
Danny and Dave ran shuttle and took pictures.
1200, 20 July 2006 – Took off Grand Canyon of
Snake run and headed for Jackson, WY. Both Eric and Howard cheated
the Big Kahuna and the Lunch Stop was hardly open.
1300, 20 July 2006 – Arrived Jackson. Howard
had his oil changed, we shopped a local outfitter store, and we had
lunch.
1600, 20 July 2006 – Departed Jackson for our
run home.
0730, 22 July 2006 – Arrived Howard’s house.
David Morgan
July 28, 2006
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