Middle Fork of the Salmon CLOSED due to Blowout

[bkp77]

FYI ladies and gents,

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/p...IDOUT/60724020

[Dave Frank]

Major bummer. I sure hope they overlook some wilderness rules sand let some beavers in.

[COUNT]

That sucks big time! Glad I got my permit for early season . Good luck for all those waiting on there trips.

COUNT

[rwhyman]

Here is this mornings update.



http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/p...607250372/1059

[deepsouthpaddler]

I just talked to the outfitter I went with earlier this year. Their trip is stuck above the log jam. Word from the forest service is that they are flying in some explosives and they are going to try and blow the log jam this evening. Hopefully the wood that goes downstream doesn't cause major problems there too.

[WisegirlII]

I'm not entirely familiar with how many miles you cover each day or how far from the regular put in the jam is, but have friends that launched on Saturday (mostly rafts and three kayakers), is it safe to assume that they're stranded above the log jam?

[carvedog]

Originally Posted by WisegirlII

I'm not entirely familiar with how many miles you cover each day or how far from the regular put in the jam is, but have friends that launched on Saturday (mostly rafts and three kayakers), is it safe to assume that they're stranded above the log jam?

The first debris pile is at about 20.5 miles and this all happened Sunday night apparently. If they went long or normal 10 to 15 per day they might be below the jam. Or they may have a front row seat for it.
Hope they are ok

[deepsouthpaddler]

It depends on how much mileage they covered in the first two days. Blowout happened on monday I think. They had 2 days to get past it. Its the second day on most commercials, but might be a 3rd day on a private if they are taking 8 days. They could easily be above it.

[COUNT]

We camped at Marble Creek (a few miles past Pistol) on night two. So it's probably 50/50 that they got past Pistol by Monday if they launched on Saturday. Pistol (just below Lake Creek where the blowout was) is right around mile 27. It seems to me that most people usually camp somewhere between miles 5 and 15 on night one and somewhere between 23 and 35 on night two. So it's anybody's guess whether they made it or not. I guess it would be cool to be caught on the river below the jam and snag an extra hotsprings night . Do you know where they were planning on camping?

COUNT

[WisegirlII]

I don't, but the funny thing is, we were supposed to be on that trip! Got imvited really last minute and then just couldn't make it work. Which we thought really sucked, but now I think maybe it worked out for the best if they are stuck. Was just getting ready to leave some harrassing messages on their voice mail. Hopefully they're past the log jam! Kind of wondering what the rest of the trip will be like if they're above it, the feds dynamite and then send everyone down... sounds kind of dicey...