Middle Fork of Salmon River blocked by logjams

LEWISTON – Multiple log and debris jams have made the top end of the Middle Fork of the Salmon River impassible, requiring rafters to begin their trips by flying into airstrips downstream of the blockages.

The Middle Fork of the Salmon is one of the most coveted multiple-day whitewater river trips in the world. It passes through the heart of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area and those who run it must first obtain a hard-to-get-permit.

Amy Baumer, spokesperson for the Salmon-Challis National Forest said the river is blocked at Velvet Falls Rapid and about one-half mile upstream of the rapid. Velvet falls is a short distance downstream from the Boundary Creek Boat Launch – the main put-in for those running the Middle Fork.

Boundary Creek is reachable by road and is just outside of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area. Buamer said none of the rafting parties that launched from Boundary Creek on Wednesday became trapped behind the jams. She said the logs and debris are likely to remain in places until highwater breaks them apart.

That means people planning to run the river this summer must use a backcountry air service to fly into Indian Creek Ranch or one of the other airstrips along the Middle Fork. Starting at Indian Creek is not uncommon later in the summer when water levels drop and the upper section becomes difficult to navigate. Still, many rafters continue to launch at Boundary Creek in August.

Dustin Aherin, owner of Idaho River Adventures, said a lightning storm that brought localized areas of heavy rainfall swept across the area Wednesday afternoon and caused multiple creeks to blowout. Much of the Middle Fork drainage has been hit with large wildfires over the past two decades, making some creeks vulnerable to blowing out. Aherin said it’s a visible manifestation of climate change.

“This is the exact same location, almost to the day, where the same thing happened last year that caused Ramshorn Creek to blow out and block the river,” he said.

The Forest Service used explosives to dislodge a log jam that blocked the river at Pistol Creek and trapped multiple rafting parties for several days in 2006. Aherin said that tactic would be unlikely to prove successful this time.

“In the upper end, there’s not enough flow to flush those logs out, they would just go down and get hung up again and there are multiple jams. It’s not just one to deal with.”