Salmon

Overhead views of Freight Train taken at 1,700 cfs with sparkling emerald water.

The changes to the rapid are apparent at its crux: there's a big new fan rock right on the former line into the Bomb Shelter (which is now changed) and a new rock poking up below the Bomb Shelter. It's more congested and more consequential ro run.

It looks like a really tough one for rafts. It's hard even for kayaks to get far left at this flow. The kayak sneak on the right looks better at 1,700 cfs than at 2,700 cfs (see 1/18/25 trip report photos), but still has little margin for error.

Going to take some figuring out...I think many will portage and some may run new routes or possibly a crazy line right into the rocky mank (maybe unintentionally by someone who doesn't read this).

Definitely scout from river level and whatever you do, don't swim into Freight Train from Last Chance.

On a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, seven of us set out on what might have been the first descent of the Salmon River’s Nordheimer Run since the high-water events of late December 2024 and early January 2025. Flows were a solid medium at 2,700 cfs, and the water had that classic translucent green glow, shimmering under cold, blue skies: the makings of a perfect winter day.

The whole run was great, but this report is only about Freight Train, which is now a completely different rapid than it was before.

As usual, we scouted Freight Train from the road while shuttling up. Right away, we could tell the crux section had changed—it looked tighter and more congested than before. We all agreed to scout from river level and recognized we'd probably portage, which says a lot considering our crew runs Freight Train regularly. From the road, though, it didn’t look nearly as bad as it turned out to be.

The big change is that a huge new rock has shown up right in the crux of the old main line into the Hawaii Five-O/Bomb Shelter curler. It’s impossible to miss, throwing up a big roostertail and closing off what the possibility of running that line without getting smashed at high speed into a pile of rocks with a ton of water. There's a huge hole and then another just downstream. It's just nasty all over, and impressively large and powerful as always.

As soon as we scouted from river level we all knew instantly we weren’t running it.

Faced with the new reality at Freight Train:

    •    Four of us walked it from the top to the pool on the right above Angel Wings.

    •    Three took a sneak line on the far right that served only to eliminate the walk, not give the thrill of running the rapid. Missing the sneak would have meant washing into the nasty rock pile: not to be taken lightly and it wouldn't be hard to mess it up.

We regrouped in the pool above Angel Wings, then floated through its swirling currents, taking a moment to process it all. Rivers always change, and we ride them while we can, but this one stings like a real loss.

Here's the alert posted on 1/21/25 about this change:

ALERT: Freight Train changed significantly in December 2024 and most boaters will now consider it to be a portage. There is no clean line through for rafts or larger boats. Be sure to scout from river level; road scouting does not convey the vertical scale, current speed, and congestion of the rocks, making it look less menacing than it really is. It is now something greater than a Class V rapid.

Since the changes are very new, boaters are still figuring out the situation. At medium flows (~3,000 cfs) there is a high-stakes sneak route on the far right for kayaks only, but not making the sneak could be disastrous. Perhaps at high flows above 4,500-5,000 cfs, the problematic new rocks will be covered and a line will emerge much in the place where it used to be. Quite likely, at flows of 1,200 cfs or less, the technical slot line along the river left cliff wall will still be viable for kayakers. It's unclear whether there will be any level suited for rafts: the outlook isn't good.

Photos of the Nordheimer access on a trip where the American Whitewater team took an evening to enjoy the Fork Run. We took out here but the photos are included since this is a put-in for the Nordheimer run. We also drove along the road to take a look at Freight Train Rapid from the pull out.

Salmon River Whitewater Maps by the Salmon River Restoration Council.

Great day of paddling on the Salmon from Forks of Salmon to Brannons Bar. It was snowing in the morning which decreased our motivation to do a 29-mile-long run from the South Fork Gorge through Butler. The shorter day starting in Forks worked out and gave us time to take it all in on a day with a good three-person crew, sun, clouds, and translucent emerald water. And we still got 15 miles on the river.

At 2800 cfs, Freight Train was less manky than it at lower flows. After several lower flow seasons in a row, it was nice to paddle through with ample water this time. There should be plenty of days like this in 2023 with all the snowpack and rain.

View of Last Chance and Freight Train from Salmon River Road at 1200 cfs.

Park & play at Tripp Point Wave in May of a good water year.

Looking down on Last Chance from the pullout near the 8-mile marker on Salmon River Road, the same pullout used to scout Freight Train. In a very rare occurrence, an open boater happened to be paddling the drop.

A few overhead views of Achilles at 1,500 cfs on the Somes Bar gauge.

Great day of boating with a greater than usual number of boats on the river (meaning there were more than two!).

Our crew of kayakers put in at the river access at Nordheimer Campground near Forks of Salmon and paddled both the Nordheimer and Butler runs (why would you not do both every time?).

The flow was 3,500 cfs at the Somes Bar gage which is a solid medium flow that packs a good punch in the bigger rapids, particularly Cascade and Freight Train.

Cascade has lots of different lines and our crew ran left, middle, and far right.

As usual, Freight Train had a long lead-in with waves so tall you get lost and the big feature near the bottom (known variously as the Bomb Shelter, Hawaii Five-O, the Tube) disappeared every paddler that dropped into it but all emerged upright. Freight Train is padded out at this flow and is safer than it is at lower flows (below 1,800 cfs or so) because most rocks are well-covered and the odds of a head hit when upside down are therefore lower.

The Butler run was pure fun and even though its easier than Nordheimer, it has a steeper gradient and a faster pace. Lots of fun big waves at this flow.

Blinding sun and rising mist at Freight Train on a February afternoon.

Taken at the turnout above Freight Train

All-Outdoors rafting with guests

All-Outdoors Rafting with Guests

All-Outdoors rafting with guests

View from the Shuttle Road
Boaters shot from the road several hundred feet up.
First Drop of Cal Salmon

Excellent Quality drop on Cal Salmon
Excellent shuttle road above the Cal Salmon
Boater styling right line in Freight Train
View of boater in Freight Train from above