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.