This summer, we took our first family multiday rafting trip. We were not lucky enough to pull a lottery ticket, so we went on the Lower Salmon from White Bird, Idaho, to the confluence with the Snake River, where you don’t need a stinking lottery ticket to have fun.
Rafting is an equipment-intensive sport. Living in central Texas and thousands of miles from whitewater, buying a raft and trailer for several thousand dollars and then having to tow it across the country for several days each way does not make a lot of financial sense. Therefore, we decided to rent rafts from a local outfitter and camp with our backpacking gear, which would fit in a commercial airplane and a minivan. We had two families (four adults and six kids) in two 16-foot rafts, plus a Gnarwal and a Forager packraft. This setup ended working great.
We targeted mid-July, to have some assurance that flows would be under 15,000 cfs at the White Bird gauge. Slide Rapid is a raft flipper over that flow. At the start of our trip the flow was a mellow 6,000 cfs, and it declined to 5,500 cfs by the end.
The closest large airport is in Spokane. We flew in, went to the grocery store to provision, then made the 3-hour drive across southeast Washington to White Bird, Idaho. We stayed at the Salmon River Resort.
There are basically two take-out options for the Lower Salmon. One is Heller Bar, which requires a 20-mile flatwater paddle down the Snake and a 3-hour one-way car shuttle. The other option is to be picked up by a jetboat at the Snake confluence and boated upstream to Pittsburg Landing, which is approximately an hour by car from the put-in at Hammer Creek. We opted for the jet boat because it sounded fun, twenty miles of flat water sounded unappealing, and with rental cars, the self-shuttle saved hours of driving.
The next morning, we dropped off our equipment at Hammer Creek, which is a 5-minute drive from White Bird, and met our outfitter. The quality of the rental rafts left something to be desired. To put it mildly, they were pretty beat up. The young man dropping off the rafts was apologetic and said that they were overbooked, with only two left. With no choice, we decided to make the best of it and proceed. We loaded the food and drinks, and everything else into dry bags and tied them down. Brian and I each rowed a raft, with the older kids taking turns in the packrafts.
We spent the next three days on the river, camping on a sandbar each night and having a blast. The Lower Salmon in summer can get pretty hot. Its a desert canyon and sun protection is mandatory. Fortnunately, the water feels great and the low humidity cools you off quick.
The evenings were very comfortable.
The Lower Salmon is pretty mellow, with lots of fun Class II and Class III rapids. We let the kids in the packrafts run every rapid except for Snow Hole (III-IV) and China (III-IV), when we put them in the big boats. There were a few swims but with the warm water and flat water between rapids, everyone had fun.
The easy rapids provided an excellent opportunity for everyone to take a turn on the oars and gain some experience.
One of the great things about the Lower Salmon is that because it is undammed, there are plenty of sand beaches for camping.
On the second day we ended up running Snow Hole Rapid in the afternoon, which is followed by a canyon with few campsites. We did not get to our camp until late that afternoon. Otherwise, we were usually at camp by 4 pm. Three full days on the river with a jetboat pick up at the confluence with the Snake River the morning of the forth day is totally doable without rushing.
The river also has plenty of good spots to stop for lunch, jump off rocks (always a favorite) or explore.
Since it is not a lottery river, we saw many other groups on the river. However, with sandbars common, it is not a problem finding a spot.
As far as gear, its really how much gear is worth it. We are used to backpacking and over the years have slimmed down our equipment, but we did splurge a bit by bringing a big tent and a cast iron pan for cooking real food.
The Lower Salmon turned out to be a great destination for a first family multiday trip. Technically, it is comparable to the Rogue and not as difficult as some of the other lottery rivers. Although it is a Class III river, anyone undertaking this trip should either know how to raft or be accompanied by someone who can teach them. Both Brian and I had attended the Northwest Rafting Class III Rowing School and had no issues safely navigating down the river (even though I did not always run perfect lines). Rafting is a fun activity – the kids are wet, challenged, and there is lots to do. Compared to backpacking, it is easy and you can have more creature comforts.
Family multiday rafting trips are just flat-out fun – hopefully, there are a few more in our future.
Vamonos Baby! 