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| Messages 1 - 18 of total 18 in this topic |
Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 22, 2016 - 08:05pm PT
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Dear ST'ers: It's my duty to share the story & photos of our recent 7 day, 94 mile float/row trip down Idaho's Salmon River from Corn Creek to Spring Bar.
We overnighted in Salmon Idaho, rose early on our launch day & had a scenic 60 mile drive to our put-in with our friend Gordon. Along the way we enjoyed seeing hundreds of elk & a few mountain sheep.
Heidi's fully loaded pickup in Salmon.
Unfortunately, it had rained heavily the night before & the final Magnesium-chloride treated 20 miles of, one-lane with turnouts, dirt road was seriously slippery. Our mud-covered pickup arrived a little later than expected, but we met up with our other 5 intrepid boaters & managed to launch by a little after noon.
The rest of our flotilla, including the paddle-boarding dog Bailey.
Native American pictographs on the first day.
We saw dozens of bald & Golden eagles along the way.
Day 2 was our first "big-water" day, with a created by thunderstorm activity rapid in 2010, named Black's Creek providing the most thrills.
John, Juanette, & Molly buried in a wave at Blacks Creek, then riding through the runout.
We had two hours of rain after we got to our 2nd night's camp, but that was it for rain for the trip.
The next few days were a pleasant blend of fun white-water, great scenery, & pristine white-sand beaches.
My 1970's climbing pal Chris, who invited us on the trip, dropping into a rapid.
Lunch stop beach.
A oddly beautiful 12" high structure left on a beach along the river.
My old climbing pal ImStein aka Gordon, photographing mountain sheep.
Buckskin Bill's front gate. My first Salmon trip was on the year he died in 1982. His place was unoccupied & open to plunder in early July of that year. I'm glad to see the small museum & a rustic-shop to buy some goodies or ice.
Most all of the section of the Salmon we floated has burned since 2002 in a series of huge forest fires. When we last floated the river in 2008, much of the damage was recent & unpleasant to look at. Time has mellowed the effect & some of the burned snags even have charm.
As always, participants provided great shared dinners.
Chris presenting dinner on night 4.
Our night 5 dinner of BBQ riblets, Asian slaw, & grilled Naan bread with garlic butter.
We had not done a multi-day raft trip since 2012 & I wasn't sure that I had the vigor to row a big raft for 7 days (they should be called "row-trips" not "float-trips") & also manage all the heavy-lifting & broken terrain carrying necessary on trips like this.
Heidi & I managed just fine, then first morning at home, I pulled a muscle in my back picking up apricots that had fallen off our huge apricot tree.
Faces along the river.
Our last big rapid was Vinegar Creek & after briefly scouting it, we all enjoyed fun runs through it.
The top & bottom of Vinegar Creek rapid.
Gordon photographing John, Juanette, & Molly at Vinegar Creek. There are some huge boat-eating holes hidden on the far side of the waves they're in.
Our last morning on the river, the wind was calm, but some very interesting clouds promised that the weather would soon change. By the time we had the boats loaded on our trucks, the wind was gusting & we could see rainclouds down-canyon.
Sun Dogs.
Best Wishes for happy floating;
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Jul 22, 2016 - 08:12pm PT
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You've gone beyond the call of duty here, Fritz.
Peace.
Hope your back gets to feeling better soon.
Cheers to your lovely lifeguard, Heidi.
Peace.
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Jul 22, 2016 - 08:33pm PT
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nice rig and a sweet trip!
TFPU!
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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Jul 22, 2016 - 09:01pm PT
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love that stone faces shot! i count 21 :)
and that sundogs shot is sunsational! i'd like to have that as a painting on my wall.
All your pictures felt wonderful!
Cheers.
PS, nobody did any trolling for fish, huh?
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Shetville , North of Los Angeles
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Jul 22, 2016 - 09:08pm PT
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More proof that social security should be eliminated....
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2016 - 09:10pm PT
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Jody: I've floated the lower & more fun part of your Dinosaur to Green River trip, which is now known as Desolation & Gray's Canyon. A lot of flat water, but it has some fun rapids & great scenery.
Mouse! It wasn't a trip without some adversity!
The six geese flew wingtip to wingtip up the Salmon River at a height of about 50 feet and came straight towards our raft.
Heidi suddenly yelled that they intended to bomb us. I screamed at them & they split above our raft & only one dropped a large bomb, which exploded three feet from our raft. Heidi was unfortunately hit by goose-schist fragments.
Revenge of the geese.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Jul 22, 2016 - 09:33pm PT
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Awesome adventure Fritz. Thanks for sharing. We were on the Middle Fork for an 8-day adventure from June 11 - 19, 2016. Here's a short YouTube video of our trip...
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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rincon
climber
Coarsegold
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Jul 22, 2016 - 09:39pm PT
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TFPU!! Looks like a great trip.
Is that the section they call "The River of No Return"?
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jul 23, 2016 - 12:34am PT
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hey there say, fritz... wow, THIS is neat... thanks for sharing...
wow, again, :)
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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Jul 23, 2016 - 06:21am PT
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Simply Awesome Fritz and Co.
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GLee
Social climber
Montucky
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Jul 23, 2016 - 07:46am PT
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WOW!!!!! Thanks for sharing your trip, Ray & Dorita!! And to think that Corn Creek put-in is only 162 miles from my front door.....
Always fun seeing beautiful TR's were I actually know most of the people as friends (you keep good company Juanette, Molly, & John)!!
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Jul 23, 2016 - 08:36am PT
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Super Stellar!
What a great trip.
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 23, 2016 - 09:33am PT
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Thanks all for posting up!
Blueblocr: I would have been fly-fishing, but my "tennis-elbow" said no to that. Strangely, rowing only bothered my elbow a little bit. We had one flyfisher on the trip & he did not do well.
Tuolumne_tradster: Congrats on getting a Middle Fork Salmon trip in. It's still my favorite, but I haven't been on it since 2012.
rincon: The stretch of the Salmon we rafted is often called "The River of No Return."
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 23, 2016 - 10:16am PT
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Jody: I've fished most of the Snake in Jackson Hole with drift-boats, but have never floated the "Canyon-stretch", where the big rapids are.
Beautiful up there, but too many tourists on the river in the summer for me.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Jul 23, 2016 - 10:16am PT
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Fritz: it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, so I went for it. Velvet and Tappan Falls lived up to their reputations. Fortunately for me, my cohorts did the heavy lifting.
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Jul 23, 2016 - 10:11pm PT
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Fritz we leave in three days for four days on the Gorges of the Lower Salmon. Wife and I and our kids as a "last hurrah family trip" before our daughter heads off to college in Alabama. Never done anything like it so we're super stoked! Thanks for the great report!
Scott
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Jul 24, 2016 - 05:12am PT
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Really nice scenery there Fritz,
Thank you!
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| Messages 1 - 18 of total 18 in this topic |
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