Salmon

Beautiful late-winter day with a group of ~12 kayakers and one packrafter running the North Fork Salmon River’s Wild Mile, then continuing down the Forks Run on the mainstem to finish at Nordheimer. The run was familiar to the Paddle Tribal Waters youth, who have trained here over the past several years, and this was one of the first times some of them have been out boating outside of the PTW program. It was great to see them out on the river as part of the broader boating community. Joining them were local boaters and a contingent from the Humboldt boating community. A special joy to share this stretch of river I live along with everyone.

The flow of 1650 cfs (Somes Bar gage) was the low end of medium flows on the mainstem and the high end of low flow on the North Fork Wild Mile—still perfectly fun and boatable. Water quality on both rivers was exceptional, and crystal-clear skies with temps in the mid-70s made it feel more like mid-spring than late winter. With the exceptionally low snowpack this year, this is likely near the end of the season for the lower North Fork, and before long it will be on the mainstem as well.

The entire staff of American Whitewater had an opportunity to get out on the Salmon River in the early evening as part of our staff retreat at Otter Bar. The run began on the Wild Mile section of the North Fork and continued on down the mainstem to the Nordeimer Campground access. The run took us approximately 90 minutes with a short surf session at Otter Bar Waves.

Beautiful warm-up paddle on the Forks Run as a prelude to Nordheimer and Butler runs. In this wintery late March, we awoke to snow falling in Forks of Salmon and then caught a break in the weather with alternating sun and clouds and views of frosty peaks from the river. The real standout on this run were the waves at Otter Bar, perhaps the best on the entire Salmon River at these flows. Also saw the resident otters at Quail Flat.

Aerial view of Schoolhouse Rapid on the Salmon River taken one day before it 40th anniversary as a component of the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System

View from a snowy day on the forks and mainstem of the Salmon River in Forks of Salmon, California.

Schoolhouse Rapid in snow

View Downstream at Forks of Salmon River Access

Forks Run in our vintage 1991 Perception Revolution cataraft.

A rare treat of summer downtime in the clear waters of the Salmon River at Fong Wah. It takes a high water year to have these flows in the second half of July when the water is warm and the sun is hot. This is a fun mystery move spot that's accessible only by paddling the Forks Run (which is runnable but bumpy in spots for a squirt boat when the mystery move spot is in).