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Middle Fork Salmon River (ID) - 105 miles - June 23-28, 2008
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Trip Itinerary:
Day Camp Bank Miles
Put-in Boundary Creek Left 0.0
1 Scout Camp Left 12.7
2 Pungo Creek Left 27.4
3 Rock Island Left 46.3
4 Grassy Flat II Left 73.1
5 Cradle Creek Right 88.6
6 Takeout Corn Creek Right 105 (an extra 5 miles to Main Salmon put-in)
Group Site #1 at Hot Springs campground, Garden Valley, ID. 8 of us car pooled in 2 vehicles with all equipment in a trailer
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Kirkum hot springs
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On the way from Banner Pass to Boundary Creek
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Boundary Creek put-in is so congested, we were forced to wait until morning to take the boats down the ramp
Day 1 - At last the boats are in the water
Getting ready to launch
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Jay and Bill Y. thru Velvet Falls
Norm thru Velvet Falls
Jay checks out Trail Flat hot springs
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A vivid reminder of how much of the MF Salmon corridor is burned
Day 2- Scout Camp - after the 4 bear attacks during the night. The female and 2 cubs tried to ransack the boats for food (and got some). Some of the more hardy people decided to throw rocks at the bears. Read Randy's complete Lucille story at the bottom....
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Scouting above Lake Creek Rapid (new last year)
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Pistol Creek is in the distance
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Indian Creek guard station - water stop and report bear activity to ranger (who already knew)
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Pungo Creek camp
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Day 3
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Sunflower Flats hot spring is quite congested
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Even parked my butt in the upper pool for this picture...
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Craig and Norm enjoy the falls
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Middle Fork bridge
and Lodge (gage location)
Exposed tree roots
Lunch stop below Jackass rapid
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Verification photo at Whitie Cox
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Rock Island is just around the corner
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Rock Island
View from bench above Rock Island
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Day 4 - Congestion at Big Loon area (aborted hot springs trip)
Approaching Cave Camp
Hospital Bar hot spring
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Goats coming for a drink during our Hospital Bar stop
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Jay and Bill Y. at Tappan Falls
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John M. at Tappan Falls
Paul at Tappan Falls
Randy at Tappan Falls
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John F. at Tappan Falls
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Craig at Tappan Falls
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Norm at Tappan Falls
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Above Tappan Falls heading back to my boat
Bill at Tappan Falls2
MFS 2008 0692
MFS 2008 0702
MFS 2008 0722
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Stop at Flying B ranch for T-shirt, ice cream, and water
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Stealing driftwood from Driftwood. Hmmm...
Across from Grassy Flat II
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MFS 2008 0922
Day 5 - A commercial sweep boat passes by
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Stop at Rattlesnake Cave and a look at the petroglyphs
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Waterfall Creek
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Looking up Big Creek
Vertical panorama from inside Veil Falls, after the hike up
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Jay opted to climb even higher
Looking up at Veil Falls
Below Redside Rapid (fun slalom)
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View from Cradle Creek camp. Got there early, and it was HOT!
Day 6 - Launching at 8:38am got us to Corn Creek a bit too early...
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Below Rubber rapid
At the confluence, looking back up the last of the Middle Fork of the Salmon
Some fun unnamed rapids on the main, below Cache Bar (also known as Cluster Bar)
On the way home Chris and Mary Ann invited us to stay at their place outside Hamilton MT. Mill Creek runs though their property
Early morning. Ready for the 10 hr. ride home
Thanks again, Chris and Mary Ann!
Thanks again, Chris!
USGS MF Salmon Flow 06/23/2008 12:00 4,910 CFS 06/28/2008 12:00 3,550 CFS
USGS MF Salmon Stage (the common reference) 06/23/2008 12:00 4.75 ft. 06/28/2008 12:00 4.04 ft.
The "Lucille" Story (Randy to USFS)
To: middle_fork_and_salmon_river_program@fs.fed.us
Subject: Bear Report at Scout and Sheepeater Campsites
06/30/2008 03:14 PM
I had a June 23rd launch on the MF Salmon
Ranger @ Boundary told us there were “Bear Sightings” at Scout and
Sheepeater.
What we were NOT told was the real story reported to the Forest Service by
commercial outfitters weeks prior to our launch
Here is what we encountered at Scout June 23.
1:30 AM
Bear in camp going through kitchen and boats
Scared off with yelling and throwing rocks
2:30 AM
Bear back in camp and boats
Scared off with yelling and throwing rocks
Setup Coleman lanterns to keep Bear away
3:00 AM
Bear back in camp and boats
Scared off with yelling and throwing rocks
Heard crying from 2 baby bears that had climbed a tree in the middle of
camp
We all (9 of us) grouped by the river and waited for the mother bear to
retrieve her kids
At 3:30 she climbed the tree and then left with her kids
We then re-lighted our campfire and took turns standing guard
4:00 and 5:00 AM
Bear returned with cubs while we stood guard
This Bear was NOT afraid of Humans
Next day we talked with outfitters at Sheepeater
The Bear and cubs were on their boats starting at 8 PM
Same story, the Bear had NO fear of humans and hits the sites every night
someone is there
The outfitter reported the bear issue 2 weeks earlier and all the
commercial outfitters were aware of the situation
But not the private boaters
This Bear situation is very dangerous
Having a Bear with cubs accustom to and NOT afraid of getting food off
boats and kitchen campsites will end up getting someone hurt
We were very lucky…..
If we had the “Whole Story” we could have selected a different campsite
Or. At lease been a little more prepared
Camping in the wilderness is not without its dangers
I have been hiking and boating in the Northwest for 40 years and never
encountered a bear so aggressive
Maybe the lost of nature food is forcing the bears to get food elsewhere
The Forest Service has completely drop the ball on this
If not this year, very soon you will have 3 bears and a rumored 3rd 2 year
old cub to deal with
Someone will get hurt and the Forest Server will need to take a large
portion of the blame
Other that this, the trip was great
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From: "Middle Fork & Salmon River Program"
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 07:09:38 -0700
Subject: Re: Bear Report at Scout and Sheepeater Campsites
Thank you for your information. Due to staff turnover and shift changes we
did not get all the information out to everyone. We are now. The Idaho
Dept. of Fish and Game has been notified and they will be going down the
river and attempt aversion training with the bears, if it fails they will
eliminate the problem.
Credits:
- U.O.N., Olympus Stylus 770SW Digital Photography by William F. Smith (7.1 MP, 2304x1728 SQ1, 3X optical 38-114mm)
- Craig's Pictures