Middle Fork Smith – January 13, 2008
All posts by Will Volpert
North Fork Smith – January 12, 2008
Colorado River, Grand Canyon | December 10, 2007 – January 4, 2008
This trip was awesome because – well, it was the Grand Canyon – but mostly because of Keith Bond and his family, Dee, Laura, and Erik. They organized a great trip, took care of food, managed a bunch of people they had barely met, and most of all were great folks. So, a huge thank-you to the Bond family!
I was lucky enough to hear about this trip through an email Keith sent out. I quickly checked my schedule and realized the dates of the trip fit perfectly inside my winter break for school. I called him up, drove to Portland to meet the other folks, and before I knew it I was signed up for a Colorado trip. Over the course of the summer a few of the originals had to bow out, leaving room for me to ask a few buddies to join: Kyle “Smitty” Smith, Andy Wilks, and Dan Thurber. Kyle and Andy are undergrads at the University of Idaho. I work in Idaho on the Middle Fork of the Salmon and Main with Andy. I met Kyle on his first rafting trip (on the MF Salmon) for his highschool graduation trip. Dan and I met in Ashland when we were both going to school at SOU. We lived together for two years and had more boating junk in our small apartment than livable space. But, hey, we have priorities.
Others on the trip were the four Bonds, Alan, Scott, Dan, Sherri, Scott, Ryan, Danielle, and Keith A.
Some of the camps we stayed at:
• Badger
• Upper North Canyon
• South Canyon Camp
• President Harding
• Main Nankoweap
• Tanner
• Grapevine
• Somewhere below Pipeline Creek
• Schist
• Lower Bass
• Upper Blacktail
• Race Track
• Tuckup
• Hualapai Acres
• Indian Canyon
• Upper 220
• Seperation Canyon
• South Cove
Thank you to the Bond family for organizing a spectacular trip and for giving me an opportunity to see the Grand Canyon.
Illinois River – November 17-18, 2007
The river peaked at just over 4750 CFS on this trip.
Left Selma at 7:00 AM and arrived at Miami Bar around 8:00ish. Got on the water around 9:30ish. Reached Green Wall at 2:15. Camped at mile 22.7 (one mile below Collier Creek). The next morning we ran from camp to take-out (Oak Flat), nine miles, in one hour and fifteen minutes.
Middle Fork of the Salmon, Idaho – September 2-6, 2007
We ran a Middle Fork trip September 2, 2007 to September 6. This was two days after the river reopened from Indian Creek down to the confluence. For some time prior, the MF had been open from the Flying B to the confluence but entirely closed the week before our trip was to launch.
I had heard many rumors about what the fires had done to various camps throughout the river corridor so I was excited to take as many photos as possible. I think you will all be pleasantly surprised to hear that most of the fire activity that we could see from the river was mainly under brush, grass, low-intensity burn. There were some spots where trees had crowned but these spots were few and far between.
Immediately below Little Loon and Cameron Creek a low intensity burn follows the river right bank almost entirely down to Loon Creek. I believe that most of this burn was called the “Red Bluff Fire,” although I’m not positive. The cabin at Cougar Creek was fine. The fire was more intense at the actual “red bluff”, Culver Creek, and the section between White Creek and Shelf. Shelf itself did not appear burned and the large ponderosa on the upper end was unscathed (it was rumored to have come down). White Creek camp did see quite a bit of fire. The log pile that had previously existed 200 yards above the camp was pretty much “toast” and bushes at the downstream end were scorched. The trees in camp appeared fine but up the hill and upstream there were a lot of trees burned. Cow and Loon were fine. Whitey and Rock Island looked good but the emergency camp (sometimes referred to as “pebble beach”) on river left below Rock Island was absolutely toasted.
Below Hospital Bar on river left we saw quite a bit of fire activity. Lots of trees down, some in the river. At Cub Creek a low water run is typically on river left but won’t be possible until higher water flushes some trees out that fell into that channel. Lower Grouse is burned but it looks like just the bushes are toast and not any of the trees. At Tappan 2 there was a log stretching across the exit channel on river right below “fish and game” rock. We had to remove this log to get our sweep and other boats through. The log was moved from the channel and we tried to perch it on the left bank to keep it out of Tappan 3 but higher water will certainly push it downstream as well as a countless number of other trees. Camas was just barely burned and the large tree was fine. From Camas down we saw very little smoke (barring the very last mile on the MF and the MS corridor).
The fishing was spectacular, the fires did not seem as bad as initially reported, and we had the river all to ourselves. It was a spectacular trip and just a great experience to float through the new fire areas and see what has changed.
Illinois River – May 5-6, 2007
Ran a 2-day trip on the Illinois this last weekend. Launched on Saturday morning after a cold night, got off the river sunday around 12ish. Beautiful weather, easy but fun flows, and lots of wildlife. The scoreboard: one bear, three otters, one bald eagle… There were three of us in two rafts. HAD A BLAST. The flow was around 1300 at Kerby when we launched, which seems to be a super mellow boogie-water flow. Nothing much to really look out for. Stopped to look at Green Wall and then we were on our way again. Didn’t catch up with the 3 and 4 dayers until we were below Submarine Hole. No trouble finding a camp for three people.
Cal-Salmon – April 20, 2007
Trip report written by Will Volpert. The flow for this trip was fairly low: 1900 CFS, which is around 4.2 feet on the gauge.
This trip was the result of a spawning of “great ideas” we came up with on a very late Thursday night. Living in Ashland, being a boater, and not having been down the Cal-Salmon is kind of like being being an American and not being fat – it is pretty darn rare. Somehow I’d been here for three years and had yet to see the “Slammin’ Salmon,” well, up until yesterday.
We left Ashland around 8:30 and didn’t get on the water until 12:30ish. Dan Thurber, who’d been down twice before, was in his kayak and I was in a 12′ raft borrowed from the SOU Outdoor Program. The run started really mellow. Bloomer’s at this flow presented little challenge for kayak or raft. At Airplane Turn we got out of our boats to take a quick look. Dan went down the main drop (the airplane turn), I snuck right in the raft. Not much of a problem there either. Our next stop was at Cascade where we each went left. At this flow it would be a real nasty swim. Lots of rocks. Dan had a great line. I was off a little in the raft and dropped into a hole I would’ve preferred to stay out of. With plenty of speed, got through just fine though.
At Last Chance we got out of our boats again to check out the run. With Freight Train just around the bend, it’s probably a place you’d rather experience in your boat. At the bottom we eddied out to scout Freight Train, which is considered the most difficult rapid on the run. At this flow it consisted of a long entry and two moves. Move right and then left. How many times have you heard that? I moved right but didn’t get the move back left and ended up sneaking through along the far right bank. Much to Jamie’s disappointment, he didn’t get any carnage shots. Dan had another stellar run and we continued downstream.
At Butler Flat Dan switched into his play boat, we ate some dead turkey and bagels, and pushed off. From here to take-out we just boat scouted and pushed for speed. It’s a long day if you plan on doing this run at low water and are driving there and back. Everything below Butler was mainly class II/III with one class IVish rapid: The Gaping Maw. Lots of boulder dodging at this flow. Dick’s Ledge (I think that’s what it’s called, but who knows?) presented a fun drop. Below that it was time to break out the beers and meet Jamie at the take-out. Another great day on the river.
This was a great flow to see the river for the first time. Most of the stuff was read and run with the exception of Freight Train and Last Chance. Certainly the clearest water I’ve ever seen. The rapids reminded me of a mixture between the Scott and the Lower Gorge on the South Fork of the Smith, although it didn’t feel as steep as either or as continuous as the Scott. The upper stretch seemed like mainly class III with a few class IV drops. Freight Train was certainly the biggest rapid on the run but at this flow maybe not class V. I’m looking forward to my next time down there: Higher water and bigger smiles!
Ashland photographer Jamie Lusch had decided to join us for the trip south to snap shots and he met up with us at Achilles Heal. Got some great photos of our runs through. Here are a few:
Illinois River – March 27-29, 2007
Flows at Kerby during this trip peaked around 1700 CFS. We were on the water during the gray area on the gauge below.
Photos by Thomas L Meckfessel of Clavey Paddlesports:
North Fork Smith – February 11, 2007
Illinois River – November 17-19, 2006
When most people talk about running the Illinois, they assume it’ll be sometime in March, April, or May. After looking at some historical data, I noticed that the Illinois tended to come up to runnable levels sometime in mid-November. I called a few friends in Moscow, Idaho, and set a date of November 17th (and crossed my fingers for water). This was sometime in late September, so we knew it was unlikely that our prayers would be answered.
Watching the Illinois gauge from two weeks out is frustrating. The predicted flows were, at first, way too high – something like 4500 CFS. Then, two days later, they were way too low – around 400 CFS. But, when it was all said and done, two-days out from the trip the predicted flow came in somewhere around 1500 CFS – just about perfect.
From Moscow, we had the NRS boys: Brian C., Blake L, and Josh D. Brian and I had worked together on Idaho’s Middle Fork and Main Salmon Rivers the previous three summers before he had taken a job at NRS. Tagging along with them was Andrew Wilkin, a student from University of Idaho and also a Middle Fork and Main Salmon guide with Brian and I for Idaho River Journeys. We also had Dan Thurber, Chris Uthoff, and Matt Tolley in kayaks.
We met at Ray’s in Selma, grabbed our permit and headed to the river. The sun came out and we had a great day floating to Pine Flat. Upon reaching Pine Flat, we busted out camp, a few drinks, and the usual guide mayhew started. After a night hooting, we crashed out and enjoyed a peaceful night of sleep.
The morning started off slowly with the popping of advil and rigging of boats… and then it was river time. The sun broke free and we got to enjoy the Illinois in its splendid glory! JD was taking photos so we took our time, pausing here and there for another photo-op.Upon reaching Prelude, Dan ran through first and was able to get some great shots of the rafts and JD’s cat shooting through the slot on river-left. Then it was on to Green Wall, where we ran the entry rapid and eddied out above the top drop. We scouted for a bit and JD set up for photos. All of us had some great lines and before we knew it we were below the Wall and cruising to Pimp Slap. Made it through everything and soon we were at the waterfall camp, beginning round two.
Woke in the morning, pushed off, and got to take-out around noonish. The Idaho guys had to get back pronto so took off for a long drive. Dan, Matt, Chris and I headed back to Selma… Another great Illy trip!
Some of JD’s shots:
