Seven days of bliss floating the Main Salmon - River of No Return in Central Idaho

Shane Preston rows down the Salmon River as the morning sun rises over the mile-deep canyon.

Hi all, 

Last week, it was a real treat to float the Main Salmon - River of No Return as it cuts across the mid-section of Idaho in the vast 2.3-million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. 

As a private boater, I used to float "The Main" every year, but permits are getting harder to obtain! My last trip was in 2015, and that gave me enough time away from the canyon to truly appreciate its virtues. I've actually spent more time on the Middle Fork and Lower Salmon than the Main in recent years. 

Barth Hot Springs 

One of the primary virtues of The Main Salmon, in my opinion, are those deep river channels between the rapids. I love to dig my oars deep into the water, and slowly push through those long, deep-water pools, following the thread of current exhibited by a bubble line on the river's surface. Looking down at the water on sunny day, you see thousands of diamonds dancing on the water. Definitely a "wow" moment.  

Often times, just by the luck of having gorgeous weather last week, we had almost no wind. Some mornings we had this super-cool waft of downriver breeze that pushed us downriver in those deep-water channels, and I barely had to dip an oar into the river to make progress. I could just kick back and enjoy the mile-high timbered slopes on both sides of the canyon, look for elk and wild sheep, and check out the scenery. 

New Sapp Creek Rapids. We all ran down the far left-hand side and did fine. 
Right side was full of big lateral folding flipper waves.   

During our 7-day trip, we also experienced the new Sapp Creek Rapids below Allison Ranch - definitely a Class 4 rapids worth scouting - and witnessed the fire scars from this year's Elkhorn Wildfire. The fire scars extended from Magpie campsite down to Elkhorn Rapids ... a distance of more than 20 miles. The fire zone got hit with some heavy rain to form the new rapids at Sapp Creek, and also at Alder Creek, about 7.5 miles downriver from the Corn Creek boat launch. 

We had a great group of 9 people, four from Portland, including our friends Anne Daly and Keith Jensen, who snagged the permit, and the rest from Boise. We took turns cooking every night, and that made things seem really easy and relaxed. 

Keith Jensen is loving the retired life these days. He and his wife Anne are heading
for the Middle Fork in mid-September.  

With 80 miles to travel in 7 days, we only needed to cover about 12 miles a day, and that makes for a leisurely morning, and early arrival in camp, where you can swim and bake in the sun, read a book in a hammock in the shade, or just hang out in lawn chairs and marvel at the scenery. 

Keep in mind that you can draw a cancelation on the Main, post-control season, on Rec.gov, if you want to think about that this year or next. 

The bronze of Polly Bemis by her cabin was completed in 2021. 

Overall, the Main is a real treasure. We loved seeing the new bronze of Polly Bemis at the Bemis Ranch, where you can see her historic cabin, next to the time-share condo buildings. We also stopped in at Buckskin Bills for ice, beer and ice cream! 

-SS   

Amazing to think we've been doing the Middle Fork and Main for almost 40 years now! 
Started doing it in our 20s (before kids) and now we're in our 60s. 

Magpie used to be one of our favorite camps. Wonder how this will look next year?