New River Websites

In the last week there have been a few new river related websites to pop-up. Here they are:

Salmon River Trips - SalmonRiverTrips.net : Information about rafting trips on Idaho's Main Salmon river with Idaho River Journeys.

Rogue River Hiking - RogueRiverHiking.net : Information about Rogue River hiking trips on Southern Oregon's Rogue River trail with Rogue River Journeys.

Rogue River Camping - RogueRiverCamping.com : Information about camping along Southern Oregon's Rogue River.

There's no water.

The last month and a half have been brutally dry here in Oregon, but how dry?

I went back and looked at data for the Illinois River to compare to this year and here's what I found. I counted the number of days the Illinois' mean flow was over 700 CFS between November 1st and December 17th for the past 20 years. This year, during that same time frame, the Illinois has hit the mark 10 times. There are two other years (in the past 20) that this has occurred; in 2008 and in 1991. But the absolute worst year was 2000, in which the Illinois only hit 700 a miserable 5 times.
Here's the data:

Days when average flow reached or exceeded 700 CFS at Kerby on the Illinois River between November 1st and December 17th:

2011: 10
2010: 37
2009: 14
2008: 10
2007: 17
2006: 34
2005: 31
2004: 11
2003: 15
2002: 12
2001: 29
2000: 5
1999: 32
1998: 32 (record 20-year for time frame on 11/21 was 20,400 CFS)
1997: 35
1996: 30
1995: 20
1994: 31
1993: 11
1992: 15
1991: 10

Back when there was water, January of 2011:

Kadoma to debut in Ashland, Oregon June 23rd

The much-anticipated film Kadoma will debut in Ashland on Thursday, June 23^rd starting at 8:00PM at Ashland Greenhouses. Local filmmakers, Chris Korbulic, 24, of Rogue River, Ore., and Ben Stookesberry, 32, of Mount Shasta, Calif., share their terrifying and true story of unmatched adventure that resulted in the tragic death of their kayak guide. The Ashland premier of Kadoma will benefit the local filmmaker’s good friend and fellow kayaker, Matt Thomas, who was paralyzed while mountain biking in Southern Oregon almost 2 years ago.

Korbulic and Stookesberry appeared at Jackson County Library Foundation’s Southern Oregon Arts and Lecture Series this past April to tell their story and share pictures. They left with the promise to return with a feature film documenting their adventures. Kodoma’s world premiere took place at the Mountainfilm: The Festival in Telluride, Colo. over Memorial Day weekend. “Nothing can replace personal experience and the stories that come from expeditions to remote, but still affected places,” says Korbulic.

Join us to support Matt in his journey to recovery and meet the filmmakers, Ben and Chris. We'll also have raffles and beer, plus one of the best views in Ashland!

What: Premiere of Kadoma to benefit the Matt Thomas Recovery Fund ($5 donation at door)
When: Thursday, June 23rd starting at 8:00pm (film will begin at sunset)
Where: Ashland Greenhouses - 650 East Ashland Lane - Ashland, OR 97520
Info: DesireeW@live.com or info@jclf.org

**If you're unable to attend and would like to make a monetary donation or donate a raffle item, please contact DesireeW@live.com for details.**

Redwood Creek | January 8-9, 2011

Check out the full Redwood Creek trip report.

Although the gauge nearest our put-in suggested the flow to be 250 CFS, it seemed like a lot more than that. Perhaps there's a large tributary between the gauge and put-in, or maybe the gauge is broken. Either way, we were pleasantly surprised that we never had to drag the raft, which is what we thought we'd be doing the first few miles. In fact, the "creek" (this thing is a huge creek), chugged along at a fast pace. Despite the low gradient, the river always has current.

Since none of us had been on this river before, we relied heavily on information from http://www.cacreeks.com/redwood.htm. We were able to track down Kathy and her brother to help with our two vehicle shuttle, which is certainly worth the amount of time you save by not having to do your own shuttle. From Orick to where we put-in was about an hour and fifteen minutes. We were nervous about what the put-in would be like but ran into no problems. Coyote Creek comes in on river-right about seven miles downstream of the put-in. We stopped there for an early lunch break at 11:00.

Read the full trip report here... Redwood Creek Trip Report.

Winning on and off the river - Go Giants!

In August when no one thought the Giants could pull it off, Tim, Brian, and Buster came up for a little R&R on the Rogue River. They were very tired from the long season and needed a break from the hustle and bustle of baseball to prepare for their postseason dreams.

Matt, Chuck, and Tim Lincecum at the bottom of Upper Black Bar.
Tim is giving the thumbs up - must have been a good run!

Even though he is so young, Buster Posey is very good on the oars:

Dan and Brian Wilson making the move at Blossom Bar. Brian is very intimidating to watch row a boat.

It was very nice watching our river friends win one of those World Series things. And, just like we taught them a few river tricks, I too took away a lesson from last nights game. From now on we will end every river trip with a shower of champagne!

Go Giants!

Trip Report: West Fork of the Illinois

For the full trip report with photos, click here.

Ever since we moved to Selma I've been wanting to get on some of the upper stretches and tributaries to the Illinois River. In January I got to run Josephine Creek, which was a lot of fun but not a whole lot of whitewater. There's gotta be something somewhere up in the drainage where there's great whitewater. Was the West Fork of the Illinois the gem I was looking for? No, but it was still fun exploring a new run.

Dana and I left our house around noon. We grabbed the little 10' Avon (Rosie the red raft) and drove to the bridge over the West Fork on Waldo Road. There we left Dana's car and continued with my truck to the put-in. We didn't really know where the put-in would be, but we knew which road to take. When we entered Obrien we took a right on Lone Mountain Road and continued up the road a few miles. Eventurally we found a place where the road was right next to the river so that's where we put in. We did drive up a little further but it seemed that the road was straying from the river.

Due to the extremely low flows during the summer there is quite a bit of brush that grows in the river bed. This was a constant battle for us. We had to get out of the boat and "portage" three times. More times than not we could pick out a line over the smaller bushes and the boat would just knock them over. Nevertheless, the river canyon was beautiful and the rapids, although only class II, were still kind of fun. At least there was current!

We arrived at the bridge take-out around 2:45. On river-left just upstream of the bridge there is a little steep trail to the road. We used that to carry our stuff up to our vehicles.

Would I do the West Fork again? Probably not. But I'm sure glad I don't have to wonder about it anymore!

For the full trip report with photos, click here.

Series: Easy River Recipes, #1

This is a new series called "Easy River Recipes". If you have one in mind please email it to info@OregonRafting.org so that we can post it on our blog. I'm not going to post quantities because, well, I have no idea how large your group is or how much you will eat. Here we go:

Taco Salad, Lunch

Taco Salad is one of the easiest lunches you can make. If you're tired of the same old deli sandwich spread, this may be the perfect mixer-upper for you.

Ingredients:

1) Tortilla Chips
2) Black Beans
3) Ice Burg Lettuce
4) Chicken
5) Avocado
6) Tomato
7) Green Onion
8) Cheddar Cheese
9) Salsa

Dishes and Utensils:

1) 1 Large Spoon
2) 1 Large Bowl
3) 1 Can Opener
4) Forks
5) Bowls
6) A few knives to cut stuff up

What do do:

Everything is going into the bowl. Pre-cook the chicken and cut it up into bite-sized chunks. Cut up tomatoes, avocados, lettuce, and green onion and throw it in the big bowl. Open and drain the canned black beans and put them in the bowl. Crunch up the tortilla chips and - you guess it - put them in the bowl. Throw the grated cheddar cheese in the bowl. Sprinkle some salsa in and, presto, you've got yourself a taco salad.

Hint:

Throw in some "taco seasoning" to make it feel extra special.

Trip Report: Illinois River, March 13-14, 2010

For the full trip report with photos click here.

Will’s 24th birthday - He’s still a year younger than me, but who’s counting?

People started dropping like flies on Thursday afternoon, but several of us stuck it out. Will and I had been watching the snow fall all day on Thursday and the projected flows told us it would be well above 6000 cfs. Will knew it was wrong but we kept watching the copious amounts of moisture with a bit of skepticism. Friday evening we knew we were golden – the flows were around 3000 cfs and falling.

Ryan Guy, having just started his spring break, met us at the Selma house on Friday evening. In the morning we met up with our other gung-ho boating comrades, J.R. Weir and Jonathan Hyland. I have to admit the sunny drive in the morning was incredibly beautiful but a little nerve racking – there was a lot of snow on the road. I wasn’t too excited about a potential “high water” trip, but Will assured me the snow would stay put and the flows would be fine.

We put-in around 11:30 am as the sun gods shined proudly on the birthday boy. It was definitely Will's day on his favorite river. After an amazing day of floating the green water of the Illinois, we arrived at South Bend around 4:30 pm and decided to call it a day. The night was complete with a more than sufficient supply of spaghetti, beer, Patron and tomato juice, Jaeger and Franzia’s Sunset Blush bagged wine. It was a relaxing and enjoyable evening of some of the best story telling and hooting I’ve been around in a long time.

The next morning everyone woke up with the thought of the impending GREEN WALL. After a filling breakfast, we hit the water and made it to Prelude around 10:30 am. We decided to scout above the entry rapid. We walked down, scouted and Will and Ryan headed back to the boats. I set-up our video camera on a rock, slung our digital camera around my neck and waited for the guys to come downstream. Will entered far left due to the fact that the center was a massive river-wide hole. It was definitely not a place you’d want to be… But after some strong pulling and maneuvering he made it out clear and clean. It was a great run. The bottom hole (also known as Harvey) wasn’t too prominent, which made the run a bit easier. Ryan and Bigwater Betty, the creepy mannequin head, had a similar run and came out looking like professionals. Of course it was a piece of cake for both J.R. and Jon.

After Green Wall we navigated some of the lower rapids while we admired the many waterfalls, runoffs and creeks surrounding us. It was absolutely beautiful. Will made sure to stop at his favorite “Waterfall Camp” and was blessed by the river gods in discovering his bottle of stashed Jaeger was still in camp. We basked in the sun and told stories.

As we made our way further downriver, we decided it was time for lunch. Instead of eating at the waterfall camp or pulling over, we took customized sandwich orders, compiled glorious piles of meat, cheese, veggies and bread and ate while we floated. I think some of the most hilarious moments of the trip were watching J.R. and Jon eat while they kayaked. It’s a little easier for rafters to eat while floating, but kayakers…that’s a whole other story. However, it definitely wasn’t difficult for them to take swags off the good ol’ bag of Sunset Blush. Thank god for bagged wine…

We made it to Oak Flat around 4:00 pm, enjoyed some more Sunset Blush, packed up and headed back home. It was really one of my favorite trips down the Illinois. We had perfect flows, perfect weather and a spectacular group of people. Thanks to Barefoot Brad and Jamie for a great shuttle experience. And to Ryan, J.R. and Jon for making the trek to Southern Oregon to enjoy one of the most beautiful rivers in the Northwest with us.

For the full trip report with photos click here.

Trip Report: Green Truss of the White Salmon, March 7, 2010

Read the full trip report with photos here.

I was driving up to Portland when Dan Thurber called and said the Truss would be good to go. Zach Collier and I had originally been planning a mellow day exploring Killer Fang on the Clackamas so at first I wasn't too stoked on the idea. There was also a rumored trip on the Little White, but there was no way I was headed there. After talking to George White and Zach about the Truss it actually seemed like the makings of a great day so we agreed to meet the following morning in Hood River.

While George and I were driving to Hood River he called Hans Hoomans to rally the troops. Hans agreed to meet us at Husum with two of his paddling buddies and the next thing we knew we were at the truss lowering boats down to the river. The total group is Dan Thurber and Jeremy kayaking, George and I as an r2, Hans, Kira, and Tom as an R3, and Zach Collier rowing his cat. We had a bright sunny day and a great flow.

Everything was uneventful until Little Brother (we all portaged Big Bro) when George and I dropped off Little Brother a little too-far right as we were taking the river-right line. Our boat slammed into a rock at the bottom and I successfully body-checked George out of the boat - as well as myself. We self-rescued quickly though. Everyone else had gravy lines and we continued to Double Drop. Hans and his crew ran first followed by George and I. It felt like we had a sweet line but in the bottom drop the boat shot into the air and George went for his second swim. Zach portaged his cat on river-left and the kayakers both had good lines so soon we were headed downstream.

A little further downstream Zach decided to pull over and hike out. The wood situation at Lower Zig Zag was unknown and he didn't want to deal with it. We bid farewell to Zach - and that's when shit started hitting the fan.

We came around a corner and there was a log across the river. There was a fair amount of current, a small eddy just to the left where Hans had eddied out, and a little bit of water going over the top of the log on river-right. Feeling totally confident, I told George we could probably scrape over on the right. We paddled hard and both jumped into the front of the boat when we thought the bow had gone over the log. Whoops. The boat stopped and turned sideways. George jumped out onto the log and I tried the same but slipped and got caught on the upstream side. My arms and head were out of the water though and I was able to half way push myself on top of the log. But then the boat started to wrap around the log and, since I was lying on the log, it was wrapping on me. Hans ran across the log and helped George keep the boat from wrapping and drain the water. Once it was empty I was able to get out from underneath and the boat was slid onto the downstream side of the log. We continued downstream.

Upper Zig Zag was uneventful. We pulled into the eddy above Lower Zig Zag to see what was in store for us. It looked surprisingly clean. Hans and his crew pushed off and had a clean run. Next up was George and I and we slicked it. The two rafts were now eddied out downstream of the rapid on river-right. All we could see was the very tail end of Lower Zig Zag. Jeremy came down in his kayak and ended up upside down (after the vertical log). The new wood is about 25 yards downstream. He swam and immediately hit the new wood, but thankfully was far enough right to catch the end and bounce downstream. We took off after him, Thurber (who had a nice line through Lower Z) went after the kayak. Hans and his crew actually got to him first and pulled him in.

Now George and I were chasing after Thurber who had the kayak in his sights. We rounded the corner and Dan was trying desperately to bring the kayak to shore but it wasn't happening. The current from the next rapid pulled it downstream. Dan ran through and immediately behind him the boaterless kayak pinned. After a little bit it filled up with water and actually came off but then it went into a little eddy of doom. George and I are eddied out above the rapid. Hans and his crew are downstream out of sight with Dan. The kayak is swirling in the eddy. There was no way George and I were going there, but just as we were about to push off the kayak somehow (I have no idea how) popped out of the eddy and headed downstream. We chased after it but after rounding the corner saw that way downstream Hans had grabbed it.

George and I relaxed momentarily, but only long enough to enter what appeared to be a nothing riffle. Well, a nothing riffle with one feature: an enormous hole. As we dropped in we both said "that's a BIG hole" and proceeded to get throttled. George swam for his third time in about 3 miles. I was able to hold on and somehow the boat didn't turn over. But it damn well should have.

We finally regrouped with everyone else. Jeremy had dislocated his shoulder so he was done kayaking. We rigged his kayak on the back of our boat and he rode with Hans.

Drama is over for the day, right? Wrong. We get to BZ Falls. Hans says he's lining. I've never lined BZ and had always just ghost boated. Seemed like it would be faster. So George and I go downstream where you can jump in off the cliff to catch your boat. Hans pushes it off. It has a shitty line and at the base of the falls it flips over. The stern of the boat, where the kayak is rigged, is at the base of the falls getting hammered. The boat is never going to come out. Hans leaves to get beer at the BZ General Store. 45 minutes later he comes back and the boat has just come out. I feel like an idiot.

We run down to Husum. I'm tired of getting my ass kicked so we run the river-right channel. Hans runs the center drop and styles it. At take-out we've got some good stories and beer. It's always good boating with George, Hans, and Dan and it was excellent meeting Tom, Kira, and Jeremy. If there is one thing that's certain in this life: You can never have too many river friends.

Read the full trip report with photos here.

Trip Report: MF and SF of the Smith March 6, 2010

Read the full trip report with photos.

Erik and David met me at the Rogue River Journeys house in Selma around at 7:00 A.M. By 9:00 we were staring at the Smith River and getting ready to run shuttle for the Oregon Hole Gorge stretch. This stretch of water is pretty short, two miles at the most, but the river runs through a fun narrow canyon. At this flow it was pretty mellow and stayed uneventful. It was still fast with a few large holes but for the most part everything was easy to avoid. Erik and David were R2ing a 12' NRS Otter while I was rowing my 14' Avon.

After reaching the take-out we decided to give the Lower South Fork Gorge a shot. I'd been down this once before but at about half the flow. Turns out at the flow on this day was way more mellow. A lot of the steep drops were washed out. There were some big stomping holes but, like Oregon Hole, they were fairly easy to avoid. The only bummer about the South Fork is the take-out. It's straight up a hill and is pretty tiresome, especially with an oar boat. But the three of us muscled the boats up and after catching our breath decided to give it another go.

On our second run through I wanted to stop to take some photos. The very first significant rapid seemed like a good choice as I could get a nice angle looking down into the rapid. There was a huge hole on the left and a very large lateral wave in the center. It looked like there was a tight line in between the two. Erik and David ran through, missed the big hole on the right but ended up going into the lateral and dumptrucking. Figures that I had the camera out to catch the only carnage of the day.

Overall a splendid day on the water. The Smiths really do have a beautiful color to them and when the sun is out they are hard to beat!

Read the full trip report with photos.

Trip Report: Illinois River February 20-21, 2010

For the full report with photos and video: Illinois River Trip Report

On Friday evening we drove in to Miami Bar. Zach (Northwest Rafting Company), Pete (Momentum River Expeditions) and Dan didn't get in until 2 AM. The rest of us were already asleep at the new camping area near Miami. We had Mr. Moody's entourage from Idaho: Makael and Mike. From Washington we had Morgan, John, and Mike B. Then there was Dana and me, Kelly from Portland, and John B from Eureka.

We awoke to what seemed like the perfect day on the Illinois. The sun broke free as we rigged our boats and then we were on the water. After an uneventful morning we stopped at Pine Flat right for lunch. Our original plan was to get down to the waterfall camp for the night, but upon reaching South Bend we were happy to call it home. An upstream wind had picked up and it had been a long day in the sun. It felt like it was around 5:00 but after checking a watch it was only 3:00. Dana started showing the guys from Washington how to drink Fireball Whiskey. That didn't last too long though...

The next morning we got on the water, ran Prelude, and then some of us caught the scout eddy immediately above Green Wall while the rest hiked down from the top of the entry rapid. The hole at the bottom looked meaty. Pete, John M, and I ran through first. At the bottom of Green Wall we got to watch John M. dance around in the hole at the bottom before the cat flipped up and over. Next up was Dan and he had a great line. John B came down after him and ended up center at the bottom. His boat looked like it was going to flip, spit him out, and then proceeded to surf for 20 minutes. Pete and I hung out in the eddy as most everyone else tried to get a row to the boat. Eventually it popped out on its own, we got it to shore, and Mike B and Morgan came down in their cats. They had great lines and then it was the lowly kayakers. Nate explored the depths of the hole but before we knew it we were headed on downstream.

Things were smooth going. We stopped for lunch at waterfall camp. I traded Dan my boat for his little cat. My first time in whitewater on a cat! John M and I had a great time surfing... it was fun being in such a light boat.

Got to take out around 3:00. Overall just an incredible trip. Thanks everyone for coming! Hope to boat with you all again soon.

For the full report with photos and video: Illinois River Trip Report

Series: Things that are pointless on river trips, #6

Being a vegetarian on a river trip is pretty much pointless. Rafting has changed the way people eat in the outdoors and it should be for the better. With our large coolers we can carry just about anything, which really just means copious amounts of bacon. Let's face it: when we float pigs die.

Many a vegetarian has changed his or her mind partway through a river trip. "Ok, I don't normally eat a 16 oz steak but just this once..." Or, my favorite, "I guess I should try some bacon."

Vegetarian Recipe of the Day:

1) Take a lot of bacon and cook it up. Remove from pan but leave the heat on and the bacon grease in the pan.
2) Place block of tofu in sizzling bacon grease.
3) Yum, this is good tofu.

Trip Report: Illinois River, February 6-7, 2010

Click here to read the full trip report with photos and flow graph.

Everyone arrived in Selma the night before the trip. John introduced some of us to Fireball Whiskey and we didn't hit the hay until about 1 AM. With a more-than slight headache we awoke the next morning and tried to load as quickly as possible. The game plan was to get below Green Wall, which is roughly 18 miles downstream of Miami Bar. Tyler arrived at 8 AM with his big truck and trailer and soon we were on the road headed to Miami Bar. Pushed off from Miami Bar a little after 10 AM.

Water level was great. The rapid section after Panther Creek was awesome with some big waves. Scenery was good as usual and weather was surprising warm and just barely drizzly. We ate lunch at Pine Flat. Pine Flat to South Bend really flies by... Read the full Illinois River Trip Report.

Series: Things that are pointless on river trips, #5

Your Expensive College Text Book

Do not ever bring your $250 college text book on the river. This would be pointless. First of all, you're probably not ever going to open it. As much as you would like to believe that you are a great student... you're not. Sure, you legitimized going on the trip by bringing your text book, but that doesn't mean you're going to open it.

Instead, you will pull it out just before you go to sleep (because it's on top of your tooth brush), you'll set it in the tent next to you, and then you will fall asleep. Little do you know that at 1:30 in the morning there will be a torrential downpour and, because you drank too much beer (instead of studying), you're tent is not adequately prepared. You will wake at 4:00 AM to find yourself in a three inch puddle of water. Your text book will be floating next to you, completely ruined. You will not be able to sell it back to the school and you are now thoroughly disappointed in yourself as well as broke since you had to purchase a second copy.

OK - been there, done that, moving on now...

Series: Things that are pointless on river trips, #4

Cast Iron Pans and Cast Iron Dutch Ovens

Do not bring cast iron on a river trip. Ever. This would be pointless. It weighs a ton and really doesn't make a difference when it comes to cooking, even with dutch ovens. Use kitchen stuff that is aluminum and light... or just anything that is lighter than cast iron. If you are worried about getting Alzheimer's because of aluminum then stop drinking beer out of aluminum cans. If you do bring cast iron then clean it yourself by whatever magical method you have of cleaning cast iron. And then carry it down to the boat yourself. HINT: cast iron dutch ovens are great to tie your boat off to... but keep them out of the kitchen!

Series: Things that are pointless on river trips, #3

Trying to be "green"

Don't try to be "green" on a river trip. This is pointless. Often times boaters drive hundreds of miles in gas-guzzling trucks to float a fraction of the miles we've driven. We use equipment that is made of plastics (paco pads, boats, paddles, etc.), which is often shipped a great distance to reach us. On the river it's better to have too much than too little so a fair amount of food normally ends up thrown out. On popular over-night trips, the same camps are used night after night causing considerable impact. If you want to be "green", what's the best advice? Stay home.

Series: Things that are pointless on river trips, #2

Flip Lines on Heavy Oar Boats

Do not put flip lines on your heavily-rigged oar boat. This is pointless. If you turn a heavy oar boat over and try to flip it upright midstream with your flip lines... good luck. Chances are you will have to get the boat to shore and have some more folks join you in the re-flip. In which case, you might as well spare yourself some cash, get your boat to shore, run a throw bag through the d-rings, and flip it back over. Even though your flip lines make your boat look cool and synchronized, they are worthless. Enough said.

Series: Things that are pointless on river trips, #1

This is a new series titled "Things that are pointless on river trips"... obvious enough. I'll refer back to the series title whenever I make a post about things that are, well, pointless to bring on a river trip. We'll start our first one off with...

Shish Kabob Skewers

Do not ever bring shish kabob skewers on the river with you. This is pointless. Cut the stuff up, season or marinate the meat, and cook it in a pan over the stove.

If you find yourself using shish kabob skewers you are most likely doing two other things:

1) Wasting a ton of time to put things on a stick that you will later take off the same stick.
2) Touching / massaging raw meat, which is stupid.

If you ever find yourself on a river trip with someone who has brought shish kabob skewers simply grab them all and use them as kindling. You can't eat the sticks so you might as well use them for something positive... like creating a warm camp.

New trip report on OregonRafting.org

After a summer working on Southern California's Kern River for Kern River Outfitters, I was very excited to go to Idaho in early September to work one commercial trip for Idaho River Journeys followed by a September 11th private trip. The group we had was a mix of California, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana guides. Scooter and I have both spent many summers on the Middle Fork, but this was my very first private trip.

We arrived at Boundary Creek the evening of the 10th and rigged our boats. No one else showed up - we had the eddy to ourselves. Incredible. Hiked up to Dagger Falls and then it was time for some sleep. The next morning we loaded up and pushed off. It was a beautiful day on the river. Water level was around 1.7 feet at the Middle Fork Lodge. We did some rock dodging and sliding but not too much pushing..... Read the full Middle Fork of the Salmon trip report.

It's a wet day in Idaho!

It's been dumping rain here in Salmon, Idaho, for most of the day. A great lightning show and thick clouds rolled into town around 3 PM and was preceded by a drizzly morning. All this rain has the Middle Fork of the Salmon on a slight rise up to 2.05 feet at the Middle Fork Lodge (at 6:42 PM) from about 2.8 feet yesterday.

The Beaverhead Mountain range this morning, covered in clouds: