Big Creek (Tributary of Middle Fork Salmon River)

We launched on Big Creek from Big Creek Airstrip with flows at 5 ft on the MF Salmon lodge gauge. At these flows at the put-in the creek is filled in, and most rocks tended to be holes instead of being exposed. The embankments are composed of brush and many times logs that have been deposited all around. Eddies are few, and the current is quite swift. While the individual kayaking moves were nothing more difficult than class 4, the wood consequence significantly increases the danger in the upper section above Monumental creek confluence to class 5. There is wood below the Monumental Creek confluence, but the river widens significantly and doubles volume. Eddies start to become larger, and its easier to boat scout. Always be on the lookout for wood, and never boat past your last seen eddy. After flying in, we hiked downstream to the Smith Creek confluence to launch after seeing at least four portages from the plane upstream. We put on the river around 3:15pm. We were a group of six, and decided to break into three groups of two above Monumental Creek due to the small and few nature of eddies at these flows. We did not kayak past our last seen eddy, and did not group up to ensure there were no mishaps of floating around a blind corner. Our first group of two launched and scouted ahead looking for river wide wood, or significantly dangerous wood (there is endless wood out here, and maneuvering around it is to be expected if you launch from here). They ended up scouting every blind corner where there was not an eddy that allowed them to view downstream. In total, we had four portages around river wide wood between Smith Creek and the confluence with Monumental Creek. I am hesitant to put pins of where the wood is, because I do not want any parties to become complacent. Do your own scouting and take your time in the first 9 miles to Monumental Creek. Expect wood to move constantly. There is a mile long gorge of continuous class 4 between Beaver Creek and Copper Creek in this upper reach. This gorge involved portaging a legacy log jam. While we were portaging, our first group of two went ahead and scouted the entire length of the gorge. They walked back up and reported that half way through there was a river wide log jam that we would need to portage. They went ahead and kayaked down to the eddy above the jam, and set safety for the next group of two coming down. We read and ran this section, and then all scouted the lower half of the gorge after ensuring all three groups made it into the eddy above the wood. The final half of the gorge terminates in a river wide ledge hole that we all ran without accident. Immediately downstream of the gorge on river right is a bench that is 15 feet above the river that we decided to camp at since it was getting late (7pm). It took us approximately four hours to go those first four miles playing it safe. I would not rush this upper section as it is easily the most dangerous combination of wood, swift currents and small eddies. The next day we launched and kayaked all the way to above the Big Creek Gorge and camped on Goat Creek bar approximately 26 miles downstream. We launched around 9am, and got to camp around 2pm. We had one more portage that morning before reaching the confluence with Monumental Creek. At Monumental Creek the flows double, and the creek starts to feel like a proper river. We encountered no more wood we needed to portage for the rest of the way to the MF Salmon. Coxey's Hole was mostly free of wood, and a proper big water rapid at these flows. There was an open line down the left we all chose to take. Below Coxey's hole the river mellows out for a while until you start to approach the big creek gorge. The canyon is beautiful and deserving of spending many days out here hiking around. The last 7 miles to the confluence with the MF Salmon were read and run class 4 at these flows and had excellent big water character. There was wood, but nothing river wide. Eddies are large, and there is a path down river left for those who want to break it up more. We chose to route to the confluence. I believe these flows were phenomenal, and I would love to return with higher water. That being said, it required extreme caution. It felt like it was medium high flows, but could handle more water. It probably encroaches on class 5 at high water, and the upper section would become incredibly swift with fewer eddies than we had. We were all competent class 5 kayakers in hard shell kayaks. Do not get in over your head out here, as the further you kayak the deeper and more remote you get. At these flows, the movement felt class 4, but there is class 5 consequence.