Salmon

Ran the river in middle of July. Great water level of 7000. The river moved well and the paddling was easy. There are named campgrounds in the guide book but there is lots more places to camp except as you get close to the confluence.

If you have a large group places are harder to find because all the commercial groups will send someone ahaed to score a campground early. This is agaiinst the rules but there was nobody on the river enforcesing this rule. We did 28 miles on day 3 looking for places to camp. Not hard at these flows but everytime we got to a large site it was already clamed well before the time.

Lots of wildlife and we had a 10 foot sturgeon swim up to our camp and show off. Amazing!

Be prepared for the last 10 miles of snake lake, there are intermittant rapids but a lot of dead water.

Also, since the snake is dam controlled it goes up and down over the course of a day. So things will wash away. Plan accordingly and tie your boats up high and don't leave anything next to the water.

Left Hammer Creek on 07/08 in the late afternoon and came into Heller Bar about noon on 07/12. This was our first time on the Lower Salmon and we had a blast. Amazing sandy beaches, incredible scenery, and super fun rapids. We scouted Snow Hole, China, and Slide. The lines were obvious at this level but there was defenitely some big, turbulent waves and major holes to avoid. Along with these rapids, all other rapids were super fun and splashy. The scouts are easy to get to and they are on the BLM map. One night was a bit tricky to find a campsite but was no big deal. I'd recommend getting an early start to the day, arrive at camp in the early afternoon and relax for the rest of the day. We had a ton of fun. Get it while it's not permit required! P.S. Michelle at All Rivers Shuttle is outstanding and provided us some great beta. Use All Rivers for your car shuttle and raft rental if you're doing so!

We boated the section from Hammer Creek to Heller Bar over 5 days at the end of August as part of a longer 9 day trip that began at Spring Bar upstream of Riggins. Flows were around 3000 cfs which was plenty of water for a great trip. We launched from Hammer Creek on a Sunday and took out at Heller Bar on Thursday. Although Hammer Creek was a little busy on the weekend (with groups who obviously drove out on Saturday, launched on Sunday, and planned a full week trip through the following weekend) the Thursday take out worked well to avoid the weekend crowd on the Snake. The river was busy and campsite competition was an issue. The premium sites (e.g. Whitehouse, Maloney, Billy Creek) were typically occupied by 1pm by groups who got an early start or did short days and outfitters who sent a rabbit boat. We were still able to get great sites for a group of 12 every afternoon (Lower Dem Bones, Whale Rock, Lower Wapshilla, and Mile 183 on the Snake). Our typical schedule was to launch around 10am and find camp around 4pm with a stop for lunch in the middle. Those on an earlier schedule would have more campsite selection while those on a later schedule would have less. We encountered a few jet boats on the Snake but they were generally considerate waiting for us to pass through rapids before ascending.

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One of the best Non-permit stretches of the Salmon. Excellent scenery, awesome riverside beach camping, remote. We put in at White Bird and took out at Eagle Creek. It you are dropping a car off it is a LONG commute 2-3 hour round trip. Eagle Creek take out has a primitive, one lane road and can be tough with a 2wd or a large trailer.

Members of the Hydropower Reform Coalition joined for a four day trip on the Lower Salmon to spend time on the river and discuss hydropwer licensing and policy. Flows dropped from approximately 6000 cfs to 5500 cfs over the course of the trip. We launched on July 21 around noon. We camped just above Snowhole Canyon the first night and proceeded through Snowhole Canyon on day 2, scouting and running Snowhole and China Rapids. We camped in the open country between canyons on night 2. On day 3 we proceeded on to the Snake River confluence, reaching it shortly after noon and then camped on the Snake River that evening. We paddled out on the Snake down to Heller Bar on day 4. We had a relaxed pace for the trip taking time out mid-day and in the evening with meetings to discuss hydropower licensing and policy with Steering Committee Members of the Hydropower Reform Coalition.

Winter Day in the lower salmon