 The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is absolutely amazing! I caught myself saying, "I wish I could come back and do this day as a day-trip"... daily. Every turn in the 100-mile stretch of the Salmon River unveils beautiful geology and landscapes, fun rapids, and great fishing. Next to the Grand Canyon, it is hands-down the most magical stretch of river I have experienced. Two weeks have passed since I returned back to civilization and I still can't stop thinking about the river. It was such a surreal experience in many forms, but I wanted to share my reflection on how this time I was able to experience the Middle Fork in a way that I would never have guessed that I could: on my SUP. To see some of the highlighted rapids from the Middle Fork and read more about the trip itself, check out this excellent blog post by Northwest Rafting Company here. Also, I got the chance to meet and paddle with the founders of Jack's Plastics Welding on this trip- Jack and Lauri. They are amazing and their gear sets the standards on high-performance dry bags and Paco Pads! Seriously. I do not trust any other dry bag on the river. Check them out here. Finding My Confidence.As a whitewater paddle boarder, we are familiar with the fact that it's a niche. We are pioneering a new sport and pushing the boundaries of what can be done on a SUP. Whenever I go paddle boarding, I tend to have the same interactions with boaters at the put-ins for rivers. Something along the lines of this: Boater Dude: "YOU are going to paddle board THAT?!" Me: "Yep!" Boater Dude: "Even -insert name of really big rapid here-?!" Me: "Yep." Boater Dude: --blank expression--- "Okay. Good luck..." At first these interactions made me question myself. It was obvious that boater-dude didn't think I could do it. I would think that maybe I was being dumb for attempting to SUP certain sections of river. I thought that maybe it was too difficult of a rapid for me or that I wasn't good enough to try. (By the way, the rapids I attempted were always perfectly within my ability level.) As time went on, I started to find my confidence. I realized that as a whitewater stand up paddle boarder, especially a female, everything we do is unconventional and I needed to be brave and confident in myself and my own abilities. As time went on, I started to find my confidence. I realized that as a whitewater stand up paddle boarder, especially a female, everything we do is unconventional and I needed to be brave and confident in myself and my own abilities. I don't feel like I have completely overcome my tendency to doubt my abilities, but I do feel that there have been several mile-stones in my SUP career that have helped me. Paddling the Middle Fork of the Salmon River; and cleaning the majority of the rapids on my feet was definitely going to go down in my book as one of my proudest SUP accomplishments. It also tops the charts for me particularly because I could easily feel how much I have grown and progressed since the first time I ever floated the Middle Fork seven years-ago. Back in the Day...I was 17 years-old when I visited the Middle Fork of the Salmon River for the first time. I was a passenger on my dad's raft. I knew how to row and had some experience rowing smaller rapids, but Dad rowed the majority of the 100 mile stretch. Memories that stand out from my first trip was the amazing fishing, crystal clear water, hot springs, and epic rapids. The second time I floated the Middle Fork was when I was in college. By then I was working as a river guide on the Provo River in 2011 (less than a year prior to when I discovered SUP) and went on the trip as a passenger in my dad's raft again. I remember rowing a few rapids, but the big stuff was my dad's responsibility. I had more river experience under my belt and I saw the rapids from a new perspective. I remember glancing at the giant hole at Velvet Falls and knowing exactly the fate that I would succumb to if we were to fall into it. I remember how nervous my dad was to row Pistol Creek Rapid. I remember how his nerves got the best of him as we ran through Pistol on the wrong side of the river-narrowly avoiding getting wrapped on a rock by a few well-timed spin strokes as we ricocheted off the rock and narrowly passed through the raft-sized slot on the right side of the river. Fast-Forward to Now.In 2012 I picked up the sport of stand up paddle boarding. I have spent more time on the river than I ever imagined I could. I have swam more rapids, experienced more carnage, and trained and learned from the best in river rescue and paddle techniques. When my dad drew a permit for the Middle Fork and invited me along, I knew that I was ready to paddle it myself. There are over 300 rapids and several class III+ and IV rapids. I initially wanted to pack my Hala Atcha 9'6" board because I thought that it would give me the stability and maneuverability that I wanted. However, when I packed I was in a rush and accidentally packed my Hala Atcha 8'6". At the put-in, I pulled out the board and saw my mistake. I felt a deep pit in my stomach. I thought I just ruined my trip and killed my goal to paddle the rapids. On the contrary, I'm actually very pleased with my accidental choice in taking the 8'6". It was the perfect board! The water level was a little bit lower this year than in my past trips (2.7 feet this time, versus 4 feet in years' past) so I felt that the rapids were a little bit easier than I was expecting. We had to navigate a lot of rock-dodging and tight lines during the first half of the trip. I ended up using only the stomp box (retractable 4 inch center fin) for the majority of the expedition. I added 2 side-bites whenever we pulled over to scout the bigger rapids because I knew that the water was going to be a bit more pushy. As I progressed down the river, I was pondering my past experiences on this river versus now. I know that 17 year-old Cami would be totally stoked to know that 26 year-old Cami came back and SUP'd it! This trip was the least scared I have been before the big rapids. I can't believe that I could confidently paddle all of the rapids without feeling like I wanted to throw up beforehand. It is really, really cool to see the progress I've made throughout the last few years as I strive to work towards my goal of being a confident class IV paddle boarder. Paddle boarding taught me to be more comfortable in the river. I gained confidence in myself by being in charge of my own fate on my SUP. I learned how to read the water and the currents because I can feel them so much better than when I rowed a raft. I also got more confident in my ability to self-rescue whenever I did end up swimming in gnarly rapids. Highlights from the WhitewaterOne of the biggest rapids is Tappan Falls. We pulled over to scout and I saw that the line I needed to take involved punching through 2 or 3 holes in a row to avoid hitting a big nasty, undercut ledge hole in the middle of the river. The line was to go to the right side of the nasty hole, then work your way to the center of the river to avoid another hole at the bottom of the rapid. I had a game plan and approached the rapid hoping that I would clean it on my first try. Spoiler alert: I didn't. Luckily it was a convenient location on the river that allowed me to walk back to the top of the rapid and try again. I knew that I needed to paddle my board as fast as I could so that I could hit the holes with enough force to prevent flipping. I was cocky on my first attempt and tried paddling right into the meat of the two holes and flipped my board. The current was so strong that it ripped my GoPro mount off of my board. I was able to recover enough to swim away from the hole at the bottom of the rapid before I remounted my board and tried again. My second try, I decided to go just a little bit further right of the holes. Once again, I started off the rapid by charging the entry as hard as I could. I made it through the first hole and lost my momentum in the second hole. My board started to spin, so I edged out of it and found myself surfing while sitting on my butt. I accidentally did a jet-ferry across the hole and across the river to get to the left side of the river. I recovered on my feet and ran the rest of the rapid. I didn't swim... but it wasn't a clean run by any means. I really wish I had a video of that one though because it was still pretty graceful even though it was definitely not what I envisioned would happen! My third attempt was going to be my final attempt. By then, a commercial trip approached and were running their rafts through the rapid. The guides pulled over at the bottom and set up to watch me run the rapid. As I prepped for my third attempt, I heard the guides cheering for me, along with one smart-ass guide yelling, "Yeah paddle boarder! Swim left!!" I grew up with four brothers. I'm pretty competitive; especially when it comes down to beating the boys. I wanted to prove to him that paddle boarders are capable of cleaning rapids. I was going to clean this freaking rapid!! So on my third attempt I charged the rapid as hard as I could. I charged so hard that it felt like I was racing at the GoPro Games! I worked my way even further to the right side than I had gone before. I hit the first hole on the edge of the meat, then immediately hit the second hole right in the meat. The wave's power killed my momentum as I slammed into the hole and fell down onto one knee. I quickly recovered by throwing down a paddle stroke and getting my weight on my back foot so that I could power myself and my board over the top of the hole. It worked! The crux of the rapid was over and I worked my way to the left side of the river. I couldn't help but smile and laugh. Punching through holes in rivers is one aspect of whitewater that I know is pretty challenging for me. I was really excited that I had the chance to lap that rapid and practice my technique. I only got one chance to run all of the other rapids. There were only three rapids that we scouted and the rest of the river was read-and-run. I am trying to progress my paddle boarding and my style so that I can clean and gracefully paddle all kinds of whitewater, so it was an awesome opportunity to paddle this river over the course of six days. |
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