LOWER SALMON RIVER TRIP

OVERVIEW

This August Donna and I drove up to Lewiston, Idaho to do a 3-night, 4-day trip on the Lower Salmon River. We hit a lot of rapids bigger than any we had ever seen before and, in general, had a great trip.

I will show 2 videos at the end of this blog to show the rapids and a fun game that was played on the last night.

But first – some pictures! We have more than 100 so I chose just a few.

It rained on us the first night. One person did not have a tent, so she slept under her tarp. Here is a picture of her (no names!):

Here is the gang after the first day (before the rain):

Here are the kayakers all lined up on the water:

On the last day, we all got dressed up in goofy outfits and had steaks (great steaks). Below are Donna, our friend Ann and me.

I had never been on a raft-supported multi-day trip and had no idea how much stuff had to be transported. This is what th support rafts looked like on the last day of the trip.

ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS

We drove a long, long time and saw many spectacular views. A few, however, really stick out.

One is a strange rock formation that sits in an otherwise very flat are. I have to assume it was created by flowing water which in itself is interesting.

Another interesting geological formation is the Wilson Arch red sandstone natural bridge arch near Moab in southern Utah. I don’t believe it was created by flowing water, but by wind. It reminded me of Rainbow Bridge on Lake Powell.

Wilson Arch is shown below.

Rainbow Bridge, as it is today, is shown below. When I last saw it, about 30 years ago, we actually rode our boat under it. That tells you how much Lake Powell has dropped over the years. Pretty sad. I have pictures somewhere. I’ll have to find them and scan them one day.

Another interesting “feature” was the remnant of a forest fire. I don’t know when the fire occurred, but there is vegetation growing, so it must have been a while ago.

Finally, the best roadside attraction is the sign below, a sign for a place called “Flying C Ranch.” I don’t know if the sign is actually intentional or a mistake, but you have to laugh – Eat Here, Get Gas.

And, finally, here we are toward the end of the river trip, still smiling!

LOWER SALMON RIVER RAPIDS

The video below shows some of the rapids we encountered, including the first class IV rapid we had ever done.

FUN AND GAMES

Sucky Ducky is a contest in which 2 people get on an overturned ducky and try, without touching the other person, to get that person to fall off. This video shows a bunch of people trying to topple the champion, a young kid named Nate.

Here is a link to Barker River Trips should you be interested:

https://barkerrivertrips.com/