Salmon River Trip — July 2017
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On Sunday night we met our Trip Leader, Mark. He explained the dry bags ROW Adventures was providing and generally what to expect. He also let us know that the bus would be by to pick us up at 7:00 the next morning. Monday morning, after a final bit of preperations, we loaded up the bus (and trailer) and headed to the put in. |
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| At the river, we met the rest of guides and Maddie did our river safety instruction. After that, we loaded up and took off pretty quickly. |
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| After a few river miles, we made our first stop for lunch. This is when we really got a good taste for how well the guides were going to be looking after us. Lunch started (as it would for the next four days) with appetizers while the guides worked on the main meal. We had a chance to relax, catch up with folks it has been decades since seeing and just enjoy the beauty around us. |
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A few more river miles and we made camp. Actually, the swamper boat had gone ahead and set up most of camp for us (as it would the next three nights). At that point, the pool toys and fishing rods came out... GPS says we camped here. The guitar came out later. (Thanks, Sam, for bringing that.) |
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The next morning, we had our first of many lovely breakfasts. Then we took down the tents (which weren't really needed) and helped a bit as the guides packed up. It was also a chance for Loren to point out that the '77 trip was really a follow-on to a Georgia Tech Outdoor Recreation trip in '75. And he had the hat to prove it. This was our first full day on the river and it was a good one. The water level, about 13,000 CFS when we put on, dropping to about 11,000, was just about perfect. And the weather was great: hot but the water was cool and it cooled off at night. |
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| We stopped to look at some pictographs that were pretty impressively well preserved. |
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Our floatilla was working well for us and everyone was having a good time. After the pictograph stop, we headed down a ways to Pine Bar where we replenished our water before lunch. |
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At camp that night, Steve took a turn in the canoe; he pronounced it "tippy" but did take it down a couple rapids later in the trip. (I don't disagree: it is tippy.) Camp was again a time to hang out and relax while the guides worked on appetizers and dinner. To be fair to them, they did a great job rotating through kitchen duties. They all seemed to have time to visit with us, share their stories and hear some of ours. GPS says we camped here. |
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| I didn't realize it at the time but this is a telling photo: Felicia, the flamigo is resting comfortably on the raft. Even looking majestic, but not tied down. The winds kicked up and she decided the other shore looked better. Mark gave it his best shot to swim after her and catch her, but she caught the current first. Fortunately, she also caught an eddy and watched jealously as we had another excellent river dinner with a beautiful sunset. |
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| Actually, better than excellent: we celebrated four July birthdays (if only I'd know about Tim, it would have been five): Robert, Steve, Loren and Romain (and Tim) all have July birthdays. The guides (with a little tip off before the trip) did a great job on chocolate cake and champaign (sparkling cider for some). |
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The next day started with some grooming: Kate fixing up Sam with corn rows. And breakfast — omlettes made to order courtesy of Jonas and Maddie. The first order of river business was rescuing Felicia; she patiently waited all night for us to pick her up. |
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| This was a big water day: Snow Hole, one of the bigger rapids on the trip. It's no fair when another open canoe makes it look easy (we talked with Dale briefly). I was too far right, hit too much of the hole and flipped — my second (and last) swim of the trip. |
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There was lots of help to get me and my canoe out of the river and right side up. Thank you Mark, Tim, Loren and Maddie. With that excitement (and my earlier swim in Upper Bunghole — no photos there) out of the way, we continued down the river: lunch and more whitewater (not as big), some pool toy-sized stretches before our third camp. |
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| GPS says this time we camped here. It was another beautiful spot. |
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| This was the night we were introduced to the "paddle dance" — it may have a better name but, that's easy for me to remember. Ashley explained that you get a paddle, make a circle and balance the paddle in front of you. She then called left or right (or some more complicated things) and you had to move that direction in the circle and grab the next paddle before it fell over. The last one with a paddle won. It was pretty fun and Sam and Romain took it down to the wire, but in the end, Romain had the last paddle of the first round. |
| That was such a big beach, it was perfect for our group photo. Both the full group, and those of us who were on the '77 trip. I think I got the names right on the this version of the picture. |
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After we got back on the river, we stopped at the rock jumping spot. That's Jonas jumping with Robert (I was taking pictures). Then Aaron (in the blue helmet) Steve, (in the yellow helmet). Sam, jumping from the top. And that speck in the last picture is Max and his awesome backflip! |
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| We lunched in another beautiful spot after the rock jumping. And had more river running to do after that. |
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That's Helen taking a turn in the canoe. We had noticed the night before the glow of a wildfire on the right shore a ways downstream from the campsite. we saw lots of evidence and even some small active fires buring. The blackened hillsides were very impressive. |
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That brings us to the confluence and our our last camp. We saw dories and jetboats in addition to more rafts, kayaks and other watercraft. Special treat for the last dinner: dutch oven prime rib! It was great. |
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| Robert took a turn in the canoe before dinner was ready. He cuts a great figure as a canoeist. And at this campsite, we saw some deer on the far shore, not bothered by the fire as far as we could tell. |
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| Ashley presented a great ducth oven pineapple upside down cake for our last dessert. The party went on pretty late. And you'll just have to ask Sam about that picture above... |
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The next morning, some of the bottles from the last night on the river party made a fun still life (with the remaining sliver of cake). We packed up and the guides tied all the rafts together and got out a motor. Much of the Snake River between us and the takeout was flat. After bringing his dry bag down to the rafts, Robert relaxed in the sand, building tunnels, while the raft rigging was going on. |
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After a bit of motoring, we stopped for our last lunch on the river. And the last fishing. And our last educational discussion: Jonas drew an awesome map of the Northwest river systems to talk about the salmon lifecycle. We stopped again briefly just before the take out. The guides untied the rafts and stored the motor for the last rapid, right above Hellar Bar. |
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| With that, our adventure was over. Well, almost. Just before we got back to the hotel, the bus started making a terrible sound. Sam diagnosed it as a U-joint going bad. Mark took the call from Grace, our driver, and came to our rescue with the other bus. |
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| Thank you ROW crew: Bethany, Ashley, Max, Maddie, Mark and Jonas! | |
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If you just want pictures (and less edited pictures) try this. | |
Vacation notes:
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