# Main Salmon-Musts



## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Alright, so I'm launching on the Main on the 23rd. Looks like water will be high. What are the camps, hotsprings, hikes, and activities in general that I want to hit/avoid? Thanks.

COUNT


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## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Also, how's the firewood situation? Do we need to pack any in?


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## lmaciag (Oct 10, 2003)

Definitely Barth Hot Springs. It is a little hard to find, so pay attention. The rocks are slick. I bit it hiking down last year. And, lots of poison ivy.

Everyone stops at Buckskin Bill's Museum... crazy that it's there.

My favorite camp was California Creek. The sand beach is HUGE. We took a layover day there two years ago and played washers & wiffle ball. 

Let me know if you have specific questions as I've been down twice, but might need the guidebook as a memory trigger.


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## lmaciag (Oct 10, 2003)

TONS of wood.


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## danadog (Mar 18, 2005)

Don'f forget to bring cash for a Rootbeer float from Buckskin Bill's Museum


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## rwhyman (May 23, 2005)

Here is something that's kind of strange for a river trip, but there is a guy about 1/2 to 2/3rd's of the way down that lives on the river and has a custom woodshop on his place. He encourages people to stop by and see he's stuff. It's kind of fun to see how someone can live on the river a long way from the grid. He has a really nice place. If you want more details, I'd have to do a little research of my records.

Definitely hit Barth Springs. It's nice to drain and scrub the thing before you leave. Then replace the plug so it's ready for the next group. There are usually scrub brushes left behind, but you may wish to bring one and leave it.

Nice camp at Swimming Hole and Maxwell Bar


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## ENDOMADNESS (Jun 21, 2005)

Like everyone said, wood was plentiful (even at high water)...we made full on Tiki Bars from all the logs on the huge beaches.

every camp was decent (i'll try to reember to look at my notes).

At big water (40,000) i was surprised that a few of the rapids weren't hyped up more. Definitely more than beer drininkg class III. I came outta my raft on Elkhorn (caught the edge of a massive center hole) and Chittam (huge standing wave jacked the boat and bucked me out). Chittam was the scariest for me, the rapid pushes into a vertical rock wall and forms a "room of doom/massive boil" that i wanted no part of. Easy to miss down the center..but looking at that gave me the chills. If i had a bigger boat or heavier load neither of these would have been a problem (14' lightly packed cat)

Gorgeous river and better rapids than i expected. I'm sure it flows slow and has boulder dodging at lower flows.


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## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Awesome. Thanks for the good info guys. Any camps at rapids with good playboating? Good sidehikes? What type of mileage should I expect in the 30G-40G's? Based on my high water Middle Fork trip a few years ago, I'm guessing a natural flow of around 10mph.

COUNT


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## ENDOMADNESS (Jun 21, 2005)

Since you're kayaking (i take it) the rapids are a little more spread out (than sya the MF)..but just hop on the raft. Can't remeber any camp with a great hole/eddy. Most of the play was on the fly adn anything that was near a camp was mid river....at 40G a long ways away. BUT...there were 2-3 side creeks that were great for some IV creeking (ie- doable in playboat). only need to hike up a 1/2 mile or so. Can't remeber the names, but they were running 250-600 cfs..significant water.

Load up on ice cream and replenish beer at Bucksinner.


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## ENDOMADNESS (Jun 21, 2005)

Count,
Grabbed my notes from a 2003 trip. similar flows to you (little bigger in '03) 26K at Corn Creek, 47K at Whitebird

Random Info-

Kayak Panther Creek on the way there..fun III+

Think you are turning the corner on the MF? Well Kitchen Creek is not in the guidebooks i do not think (formed in 2003). Between Cache Creek and Corn. Run Left. Big ass waves/laterals

Legend Creek Campsite (major Poison Ivy..no good camp)

Rainier Rapid- typically decent-was a wash

Devils Teeth- bigger than the listed II+, run center.

Salmon Falls- typically decent- was a wash

(m 69) sabe creek enters- (kayak this if flow is there)

(mile 69.3) Hot Springs Campsite- little elevated site near the hard to find Barth Hot Sprigs

(mile 70) Poor Bar Campsite- very nice!

(mile 71.5) Bruin Bar Campsite- Huge Beach

(m 79) Bargamin Creek enters- i think we might have kayaked this...not sure, but i have it circled "little salmon"

(m 79.2) Bailey Rapid- left of center, work right

(m 83.4) Yellow pine campsites- very nice beach
Big Mallard- scout this at this flow

(m 86.7) Elkhorn Rapid- 2nd biggest of trip at this flow- long rapid- we didn't scout, run right

(m 89.4) whiplash rapid- scout if needed, pull in before groundhog bar campsite

(m 90.) Reed Creek Camp- very nice beach and shade

(m 99.4) haney bar- sand, grass bench and shade- alright camp

(m 101.9) Mackay Bridge & camp- Bridge Jumping !!

(m 107.9) Swimming hole camp- Huge Beach, little shade, Cliff Jumping...beach party blowout

(m 124.7) Chittam Rapid- Scout. this lis large at high water. Still think about that wall and staying far from it. huge slack water after rapid for swimmers !! 

(m 125.4) Vinegar Rapid- basically a wash- wave train

(m 127.3) wind river pack brdige/camp- we took out across the river at Carey, so this is the last camp. not bad, not great. High beach (15' vert up) with little shade

hope this helps...have fun. 

Probably just read and run everything but Big Mallard (its in my notes, but can't remeber it) and Chittam. We were a group of 5 (2 cats- 3 kayaks)...class IV experience.


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## JBL (Jun 7, 2006)

I ran it in May of '06 and it was 92,000 at Whitebird. At the put it, it was lapping 13 ft on the ramp. The rapids weren't really the issue. It was the eddy lines, boils and the cold, fast water. Whiplash was the real kicker of the run. Everyone made it through upright but if you'd have screwed up, you'd have been f-ed. Most other rapids were either washed out or just plain huge. 12-15 ft waves were common. Take a big boat if you can. We ran 18 ft oar rigs and 17 ft dories. Have fun.


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## dgosn (Sep 8, 2006)

double


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## dgosn (Sep 8, 2006)

Got off main last week @ 8.5ft on corn creek gauge (8.0= 32,000cfs)

I found that the class IV rapids were a wash, the class II had bigger waves/holes. Elkhorn had by far the biggest crashing wave that I have ever seen. Hermit in the GC could only aspire to be that big. Salmon falls barely was a ripple. The bath tub springs were awesome, one of the best I have ever visited!

Whiplash is a must scout in my opinion at high water. I had never been down before, and was usually hugging inside edge of main current on corners if I was unsure of rapid, this tactic could very well have killed me had I not scouted whiplash. I guess below 6.0ft at corn creek it is no big deal. Think of Room of Doom on steroids, the eddy fence was 3 ft tall, and the fold and boils were pretty intense looking. I feel that whirlpool would have drowned someone even with 50lbs flotation

There is a ton of wood, we didnt camp at 'eddy beaches' because of all the wood floating, at the CC boat ramp I was enjoying my coffee and watched a huge burned pondorosa come screaming right by our 2 rafts by about 10-20 feet and lodge it self on the boat ramp. This thing would have destroyed anything it touched.

Buckskin Bills (5 mile bar) is pretty cool, has ice, ice cream, beer, etc.... Yellow pine camps are awesome looking, so is blackadar hole or chuckar for the first night.

Chittum was a kick ass rapid, you cant help but take some huge hits, I ran right of center and had a wild and fun ride. 

Best part of high water is lack of jet boat traffic, they are worried about wood/logs. Five mile bar and Polly Bemis/Schepp were only using jet boats to get customers at Vinegar Creek, no sight seeing rides.


We could do 10 miles in just over an hour, good hiking anywhere there is a trail shown on the map, but it poured rain the first few days which lead to more bonfires and whiskey drinking. Bring a fishing pole, I didnt because i though the water would be to high, but saw lots of fish jump in the big eddys.

If you can put in at Stoddard (the first MF take out) there are 2 incredibley fun wave trains that last for ever and are HUGE!

for rafts and trailers, the only spot to back into river was the first ramp @ vinegar creek, i missed it due to Chittum being big, so I had to derig and carry up a sand bar to parking lot as the other 2 ramps were covered in 2-5 feet of sand.

have fun

-JBL 13.0ft? Wow, did you have to float over bushes and trees on the Left bank at whiplash? I can imagine that wave/hole/eddy must have made you want to poo in your pants. Whats 13.0ft = we figured close to 80,000cfs or more


scott


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## JBL (Jun 7, 2006)

dgosn said:


> -JBL 13.0ft? Wow, did you have to float over bushes and trees on the Left bank at whiplash? I can imagine that wave/hole/eddy must have made you want to poo in your pants. Whats 13.0ft = we figured close to 80,000cfs or more
> scott


We ran Whiplash right of center, just to the left of the big rock. It was the only "clean" line at that level. There were a few who wanted to run it left but the group decided to run together and all boats made it through OK. 

I was with a bunch of Main/MFS guides and they estimated that the Main was flowing 50-52,000 at the put-in when we launched. 

Biggest water I'd ever seen (before or since).


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## Beardance42 (May 12, 2008)

My last time down there, about 35 or 40K in '98, we scouted Whiplash and it made it very difficult (pulling over to the right) to hit the line I wanted, starting left and working center/leaning left. We got through but it was uggggly. I have _heard_ that at extreme high water, Whiplash is the most dangerous rapid on the run. 

Three trips and I never hit Chittam correctly once - the last time in '98, I just took the big center wave in the teeth and then pulled hard to avoid drifting into that wall/rocky point. There was a fatality at that wall that year, a couple of weeks before we went up there. Chittam is no place to make a left-side mistake. 

Bailey was fun - Elkhorn we just hugged left and barely got wet. Mallard we took right over the top at high water - tremendous hole/wave at the bottom, but the boat just punched through.


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## dgosn (Sep 8, 2006)

JBL said:


> We ran Whiplash right of center, just to the left of the big rock. It was the only "clean" line at that level. There were a few who wanted to run it left but the group decided to run together and all boats made it through OK.
> 
> I was with a bunch of Main/MFS guides and they estimated that the Main was flowing 50-52,000 at the put-in when we launched.
> 
> Biggest water I'd ever seen (before or since).


I assume you mean the rock on the right side, We scouted from that rock, and the path to it was only under 1-2 feet of water, I can only imagine what that would look like if the rock was really an island as opposed to a 'pennisula' when I saw it last week. I have seen some rapids with bad consequences, but whiplash is towards to top as there really is no line that looks great, left is wierd eddy, and the rest is worse.... I chickened out and bounced along the left bank....

I would think that 13.0 ft would be more like 70,000 river would be almost twice as deep as 8.0ft and considerably wider. Either way I was impressed with the Main at high water, and had a blast the whole time!

attached pic is from rock I assume you talk about, right did not look good at all, also notice crazy boils in left of photo..
scott


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## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Awesome. Thanks for the great beta guys. 

Has anyone used or checked out the South Fork Salmon Camp around Mile 56 (I'm using the miles from the new Whites and Vinson guide)

Any recommended campsites between Swimming Hole Camp (61) and Chittam ( 78 )?


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## ENDOMADNESS (Jun 21, 2005)

i think one of them Bull Creekers is a big beach. Ask Ranger Rick?

have fun


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