Salmon, South Fork

With high flows on the river we decided to head upstream for a Sunday afternoon trip on this section of the South Fork Salmon (note flow reported is for the mainstem at Somes Bar and flows were lower on this upper fork). We encountered a couple channel-spanning pieces of wood at the South Fork Trailhead but otherwise the run was relatively free of wood (a few pieces along the sides were in play). At these flows the rapids were class III but very continuous with small eddies.

The Ledge Drop below the first bridge and just above the second bridge was the most challenging drop on the run and it came up quick. On this day the right slot was free of wood (one member of the partner flipped and went that way before rolling up).

After the second bridge the run started to open up a bit more and by the time we reached the East Fork of the South Fork, wood was less of a concern with a more open channel and slightly easier whitewater.

The entire run was 2.5 hours of float time with the addition of a short break for lunch. We were able to fill up our gas tank (cash only) and grab a drink at the Salmon River Saloon on one of the rare days it was open.

Hard to believe but after almost 20 years of paddling the Salmon River watershed, there's a class III run I've never done just 25 miles from home up the South Fork. So Lyra & I loaded up our cataraft and headed up there to check it out with high snowmelt flows. It was beautiful, fast, and felt a bit wild with 8500-foot snow-covered peaks of the Trinity Alps towering overhead. There's more to explore up there too...I'll definitely go back. This river is endless.

Flows were 7,000 cfs on the Somes Bar gage, dropping from a snowmelt runoff peak of 11,000 cfs a couple days earlier. This is the lower half of a medium flow. The East Fork South Fork adds a considerable amount of water about 4.5 miles into the run.