The Salmon River originates in the Sawtooth and Lemhi valleys in central and eastern Idaho and flows west to meet the Snake River. Known for its whitewater, sandy beaches, and wilderness locale, the Salmon flows through a deep granite-walled canyon for 180 miles. The “wild” section of the river is a 79-mile stretch in the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness that descends 1000 feet over a series of rapids.
My brother Brian proposed this trip over a year ago; he’d met river guide Donny Hazard in Utah and was excited to get our family out on a river trip. The list of attendees fluctuated quite a bit as people’s interest waxed and waned, but in the end we had a collection of 10 people, including in-laws, old roommates, and friends of friends. With Donny, his guides, and a few of their kids, our group was 18-paddlers strong. I think I can speak for the group as a whole when I say we had a blast!
Trip Planning
Specs: 82 mi | 5 days, 4 nights
Difficulty: Rapids up to class 2+ / 3. The water volume wasn’t very high this late in the season, but early season flow can be much higher, which increases the difficulty and consequence of the rapids.
Location: Bitterroot and Payette National Forests, Idaho | Home of Umatilla, Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Nez Perce peoples | View on Map
Route: We put in at Corn Creek (the beginning of the “wild” section) and got out at Carey Creek. Once you’re on the river, there’s no returning upstream; there’s only one way to go!
Permits & Regulations: Permits are required year-round to float the wild section of the Salmon River (Corn Creek to Long Tom Bar). The Recreation.gov page includes lots of detailed information if you’re planning your own trip.
Resources: Our group hired Pro Rafting Tours (led by Donny Hazard) to guide us down the river. They were fantastic, and I’d recommend their services if you’re looking for a guided trip. There are also many other guiding companies, and you can “guide” yourself; see the permitting page for details. The other major logistical detail is shuttling your car(s) from the start to the finish. Although the river route is only 80 miles, the shortest drive between the Corn Creek and Carey Creek is 380 miles (~9 hours). We hired the Salmon River Transportation Company to shuttle our car and had a good experience with them.
Learning to Swim
1 Aug 2024 | 18 mi | View on Map
After a quick overnight stay in Salmon, Idaho, we (myself, Steve, Brian, Jason, Theo, Noah, Christopher, Mason, Oliva, and Isaac) drive into the wilderness to meet our river guides. It’s not a lot of mileage, but takes at least 90 minutes since most of the drive is on a dirt road. We arrive at the crowded put-in spot at Corn Creek at 10 AM. There must be a dozen groups starting their trips here this morning! Once we’ve figured out where to park the car so that it can be shuttled to the end of our trip, we meet the guides: Donny, Matt, Robert, Gabe, and Aaron. Donny’s two boys, Ryker and Chance, are also joining us, as is Matt’s grandson, Kaleb.
After a quick round of introductions, Donny gives us a short safety talk, nonchalantly describing being sucked into an eddy and how to escape, among other topics. I was expecting a longer briefing, particularly since most of us will be navigating the river in one- and two-person inflatable kayaks and not on the large rafts. But Donny seems unconcerned, either out of an abundance of faith in our abilities or an abundance of experience with this river (mostly the latter, I expect).
With the safety talk out of the way, we hop into boats and push off into the river. I’m in a kayak with Christopher, Olivia and Isaac are sharing a kayak, and Jason, Steve, and Theo are on a raft. Brian, Noah, and Robert are taking out the one-person “spud” kayaks, and Mason, an experienced white water kayaker, has brought a little hard-shell “play boat”. Almost immediately after pushing off, we float down a couple of easy rapids. I’m nervous at first, but the kayak is wide and difficult to flip and Christopher and I make it through without getting wet. We all practice flipping the kayaks over and clambering back into them from the water. It’s a bit tricky with a life jacket on.
We stop for lunch on a sandy beach in the early afternoon. Theo, Jason’s son, bonds quickly with Ryker, Chance, and Kaleb as they build sand castles and start dreaming up ideas for forts. Donny and the guides pull several folding tables off of the rafts and prepare a delicious lunch for us. I’m a bit out of my element – I’ve been on guided trips before, but never one where the guides prepare food for us. It feels odd to be catered to in the backcountry.
After lunch we rearrange boats continue down the river through some larger rapids. Jason and Brian flip their two-person kayak repeatedly to the point where it becomes a joke. I’m trying out one of the spud kayaks this afternoon and make it through several large rapids without swimming! However, I learn the hard way that the current sweeps the little boats along much more quickly than the rafts and get trapped up next to a raft in a large rapid. I loose control of the boat, flip over, and “swim” through the rest of the rapid. It’s not a very pleasant experience – the large waves keep crashing over my head – but I make it through unscathed and manage to flop back into the boat in calmer water.
We reach camp in the early evening and everyone helps to unload the rafts. There are tables, chairs, sleeping gear, and everyone’s personal dry bags to unload. The guides get started on dinner while the rest of us set up tents and then play beach games. Dinner is just as delicious as lunch and we enjoy a relaxing evening until sundown. Many of us sleep outside of the tents, “cowboy camping” under the stars. It’s more of a practical adaptation than a romantic one; it’s very warm outside and sleeping in a tent sounds stuffy and uncomfortable. I don’t even get into my sleeping bag until well after midnight, opting instead to sleep on top.
The Long Day
2 Aug 2024 | 32 mi | View on Map
Today is our biggest day of the trip: by luck of the draw, our permit has us camping about 32 miles downstream tonight. Donny assures us this is a very feasible day, particularly because there are a number of large rapids to hurry us down the river. Still, we’re up at 6 AM to get an early start to the day. Almost immediately after leaving camp, we stop to soak in a hot spring for a few minutes. The water is comfortably hot and there’s a nice tub constructed below the spring where we can relax. But we don’t stay for long, we have lots of miles to cover!
I’m kayaking with Christopher again today, and Brian and Jason have also paired up again, determined to prove that they can navigate big rapids without flipping. I really enjoy the rapids, especially in the kayak. Although they waves are not huge right now, the they feel big from the kayak. We’re beginning to learn how to navigate them too, more through trial and error than instruction. Jason and Brian proudly paddle through most of the large rapids without flipping their boat, a large improvement from yesterday!
Christopher and I make it through a series of large rapids and get bolder with each one, pointedly heading for the biggest white water. Our confidence bites us in the afternoon, however, when we paddle directly into a “hole,” a churning eddy just below a drop in the river and are simultaneously rotated by the current and slammed side-first into a crashing wave. The boat flips and we both swim through the rest of the rapid. By now though, swimming through the rapids has become more of a point of pride than shame. It’s like taking a lead fall in climbing – I took a risk, tried something hard, and failed, but I tried!
On the calm stretches of water between rapids, shenanigans ensue. We brought several water guns along, most of which Ryker, Chance, and Theo have stashed on their raft. Water fights between them and us kayakers occur multiple times with weapons stolen, boats boarded, and even a few kayaks flipped. We try playing tag in the kayaks, which is fun but exhausting, at least for me – I’m not used to paddling that much. Tag turns into kayak water polo later in the day, with two rafts representing the goals. It’s a very dynamic playing field; the “goal” raft are continuously drifting closer and further apart and the current changes all the time.
By the time we reach camp at 7 PM, the games have died down and everyone is quiet. Even with the current pulling us down river, it’s been a long day and we’re all tired. Even so, the kids waste no time starting on the latest edition of their sand castle and the rest of us unpack the rafts and work on setting up camp. After a late dinner, we all head to bed.
Big Jumps
3 Aug 2024 | 10 mi | View on Map
With over half of the trip mileage behind us and a shorter day ahead, we sleep in this morning and get a later start. We stop at the Buckskin Bill museum and wander around the mountain man’s compound, which includes several cabins and a watch tower. He lived an impressive life; I can’t imagine mining metals and turning them into cutlery, tools, and even guns!
Further downriver, we pull off next to a suspension bridge and spend a while jumping from the bridge into the river. Olivia, Isaac, and Brian make several jumps each. Isaac in particular gets more creative with each jump, including a flying leap over the bridge railing and a swinging jump from one of the cables. I’m hesitant at first but agree to jump with Brian, Jason, Christopher, and Steve. We talk Noah into joining us and then jump together.
At lunch time, we make another stop to see an old tunnel (maybe for mining?) at the confluence of the main and south forks of the Salmon River. The tunnel is a few hundred feet long, very dark in the middle, and increasingly narrow as we scramble through to the other side. There’s another opportunity for large jumps into the river from a cliff over the south fork. Isaac and Oliva jump again, and Brian, Christopher, and Jason do a synchronized leap into the water.
There aren’t any large rapids to navigate today, but we’re not in a hurry so we’re able to float along and enjoy the scenery. One of my favorite spots is a deep, eerie canyon with columns of dark rock dropping vertically into the water. Since it’s been a more relaxing day, everyone has lots of energy when we get to camp, so we play spike ball, a disk game where we try to knock a bottle off of a pole, and some catch with a frisbee that involves lots of running dives into the water. Later in the evening, Donny tells us some stories from his adventures: repelling past two enormous waterfalls, being mugged on an international river trip, and living the dirt bag life for a year running rivers in South America. It all sounds very exciting and provides some clarity on his relaxed attitude toward the river: this is child’s play compared to the white water he’s been through.
Rain and a Headwind
4 Aug 2024 | 14 mi | View on Map
After three days of perfect weather, things took a turn for the worse last night. It began drizzling around 1 AM; thankfully we noted the dark clouds yesterday afternoon and set up the tents with rain flies just in case, so everyone was able to quickly move into a tent. Overcast skies and sporadic rain continue this morning, so many of us start the day with jackets on. I keep mine on until I swim through a rapid; there’s no point trying to stay dry after that. A few miles down the river, we take a short hike to see some yew trees in a picturesque clearing. It’s not a particularly exciting hike, but it feels good to walk for a while and the scenery is nice.
The sun begins to re-emerge when we get back to the boats, which I appreciate; it’s chilly without the sun! Much like yesterday, we don’t have very many miles to cover today and the river is mostly flat. A persistent headwind makes it difficult to progress down the river, so we do a lot of paddling. I welcome the workout, it feels nice and keeps me warm.
We reach camp relatively early today – a huge sandy flat called “Maxwell Beach.” We play volleyball for a little while and then do some “belly whomping,” a dynamic slip-n-slide activity using one of the rafts. One person gets a running start on the beach, making a flying leap onto the flat underside of the raft. Half a dozen people lift the end of the raft up just as the runner reaches the end, sending them flying out into the river.
We eat dinner later in the evening and then enjoy s’mores and another round of stories from Donny. The skies are clear tonight and almost everyone sleeps out under the stars. A pack rat comes to investigate our setup while we’re settling down, but it stays away once everyone has crawled into their sleeping bags.
End of the Wild
5 Aug 2024 | 8 mi | View on Map
We’re up early again this morning, not because we have a lot of miles to cover, but because Donny wants to avoid a crowded boat ramp. We have a quick breakfast, pack up the gear, and start down the river. It looks a bit stormy, but there’s no rain this morning.
We paddle through a few big rapids on our way to Carey Creek. After four days on the river, everyone seems confident and at ease with the white water. The final rapid – a very large hole – flips Noah, trapping his boat in the eddy and sending him and his paddle downstream. He manages to clamber onto one of the rafts but his paddle is hightailing it down the river, so Christopher and I quickly paddle downstream to catch it before it passes our take-out spot. We snag it in time and are joined at the boat ramp by the rest of the crew a few minutes later.
There are a lot of end-of-trip chores to do, so we all pitch in to clear the ramp as quickly as we can. All the gear has to be unloaded from the rafts, water containers emptied, and boats carried up onto the ramp. The boats are then deflated and rolled up, which feels strange after floating in them for days. Steve finds our car parked near the ramp and we unpack our dry bags and change into drier, cleaner clothes. Finally, we say our goodbyes to Donny, the guides, and the kids. It’s a little bittersweet – we’ve become friends this week – but I had a great time and am happy to have met them all.