Middle Fork of The Salmon River – Day 3

Monday, July 19, 2020

I woke up early and almost stepped on two sleeping guides on my way to pee in the river. “Dilution is the solution”, as Steve told us. I went for a little walk, looking for the trail that runs one side of the river for 110 miles. While in high school, Steven, Ty and a couple of others ran the whole thing with their track coach, staying in camps like this one along the way. Now that I think about it, did they run back down, or did someone pick them up at Boundary Creek?

Another beautiful day, I got to fish with Ron again with better results. Some kind of brown hopper recommended at the fly shop did the trick. The fish loved it. Ron tied it on with a Uniknot and I tied a stronger tippet. No lost flies, no broken line. It was a great morning on a beautiful river. 

By lunch, everyone seemed to be relaxing into the trip. Ron took a nap in the shade. Kory and Whitney snoozed on a big, beautiful fallen tree, bleached by the sun and washed by the river. 

Looking at this tree, I am reminded of what this river can look like. A couple of the guys talked about making the first run of the river in June when it is really high. They look for new obstacles, trees being the number one danger. They said all the rocks were covered by water.  Someone said they ran the entire river in one day. 110 miles in one day! I don’t think I will be going on that trip!

At a gravel bar, we stopped to pick up Jess, her cousin, Natalie and Steven’s brother, Joel.

By 4:00 we came to Jump-off bridge. No, I was not tempted in the slightest, but I was surprised to see Jess’s father, Steve, jump. For the next two days he complained of having had an enema! Steven climbed up in the rail, concentrating for a bit on his move, then did a back flip, or a gainer with a perfect entry.

Camp wasn’t far, and everyone gathered fo the day’s stories.