[zbaird]

One person went missing yesterday.

Any updates about this? I haven't seen anything.

 

[Big Wave]

Confirmed by Don Sullivan in phone conversation that a person went missing. That’s all I’ve heard or seen too.
March 14 I believe was the date of incident. Tribal rangers were involved In search.

 

[luke c]

R

 

[Pippingoesplaces]

Yes a mountain lion attacked a man on the Salt on 3/15/23. I just visited with him, he's in good spirits, thankful for the quick work of his friends and already started the rabies vaccine protocol.

 

[Pippingoesplaces]

Yes a mountain lion attacked a man on the Salt on 3/15/23. I just visited with him, he's in good spirits, thankful for the quick work of his friends and already started the rabies vaccine protocol.

 

[Big Wave]

Looked at the weather forecast and the flow forecast for the Salt this coming week. 22,000 cfs and 55* and rain for several days sounds like a good time for some boaters with Huevos Grande.

 

[zbaird]

Thats starting to sound more like loco en la cabeza flows.

 

[tBatt]

Looked at the weather forecast and the flow forecast for the Salt this coming week. 22,000 cfs and 55* and rain for several days sounds like a good time for some boaters with Huevos Grande.

Big ole Nope from me.

https://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov/dbdata/station/flowgraph/flowgraph_hc2.html?id=SLCA3

 

[Quiggle]

Some one just posted a video of the mountain lion attack on facebook, well really it’s tick tok, I can’t share it. Video title is dean and the mountain lion

 

[jamesthomas]

Hmmm, not sure I want to watch that.

 

[tBatt]

Some one just posted a video of the mountain lion attack on facebook, well really it’s tick tok, I can’t share it. Video title is dean and the mountain lion

Is it in a group?

 

[Quiggle]

Is it in a group?

Yes the group is called summit county river rats and pirates

 

[jsheglund]

Crazy video. I'd like to see the lead up to the attack.

 

[DoStep]

Well it was pretty epic. We launched at just below 6K and ran everything up to the maze on Wednesday and camped around mile 28, we were in camp by 3 including a lunch break and then it rained all night. Current was 6 mph and up, it was all formidable with literally no breaks. Most of the big named rapids had pretty obvious sneaks (and mostly on the right), by and large we could read and run everything, which was good because there were no Eddie’s. The only rapid we scouted was black rock and it was a predictably straight forward right run with no sneak around the runnable big wave. Ran the rest and Quartzite Thursday around or likely over 9K with the 13K spike chasing us down. Corkscrew and the gorge below was non stop. First two nights the water came up enough that we had to deal with boats during the night. We then Laid over and the water receded dramatically so we had to deal with that too, but the last two days were very relaxed in comparison to the first two. The group we launched with had the mtn lion incident, it could have easily been us, that’s really bad luck. They rowed out that day and reports are he is doing okay. It was just the two groups at the put in, they were great folks and we were really concerned for them. The Apache ranger told us about a guy who went missing in white rock (?) rapid, he still hasn’t turned up yet. The ranger was no nonsense yet very friendly, I suspect he treats everyone the same way they treat him. He will ask you for the tribe permits. Once the other group rowed out, it seems unlikely anyone launched on Thursday and maybe even Friday, we had the place to ourselves.

It looks like more high flows are coming this week, perhaps too high for the comfort of most. The best advice we got while en route was to stay tight and communicate. You can’t hear anything from the other boats so have whistles and discuss your hand signals. It is important to know where you are, the velocity can be disorienting.

Epic trip! The Salt is truly a one of a kind trip, so wild. Can’t wait to get back!

 

[Big Wave]

DoStep thanks for the trip report it is obvious you and your group are skilled and competent boaters. How great an accomplishment to have no incidents under those high water conditions.
Our group had the same launch day but out of caution we canceled Monday when the forecast changed and higher flows were forecast.
I‘m envious of your success.

 

[MT4Runner]

Buddy of mine ran the Salt on a Mon 3/13 launch. They ran Quartzite and Corkscrew on Fri 3/17 at 16k. Flipped one boat above Quartzite and one in it, but recovered both before Corkscrew.

 

[Big Wave]

The forecast was for 16,000 it only made it to 13700 at 4:30 pm on the 16th at the gauge. Down to 8,900 on Friday at 1:00.
Don’t let the facts ruin their story.
Glad they had good recoveries but had they really been on 16,000 the outcome might have been different.
I’m not trying to diminish the accomplishments of any groups that commit to running it this high and succeed. Just trying to put out accurate info so this week someone doesn’t think true 16,000 is real doable.

Buddy of mine ran the Salt on a Mon 3/13 launch. They ran Quartzite and Corkscrew on Fri 3/17 at 16k. Flipped one boat above Quartzite and one in it, but recovered both before Corkscrew.

 

[MT4Runner]

Thanks @Big Wave. I've only ever done the Salt once--at 1,600-2,200. Didn't realize there's a big difference in the teens, assumed it was uniformly HUGE.
16k was the prediction, I should have looked up at @tBatt's post with actuals.

I guess I can relate that Slide on the Lower Salmon also goes from spicy to scary in a similar range.

 

[adamread]

Put in on 3/13. Mostly was fine, but we had a flip at Corkscrew and a long swim. Big thanks to the Montana crew who helped us un-flip the boat.

When it's flooding, eddies are few and far between. The fast water coupled with phragmites and tamarisk make the last 15 miles rough for finding camps. Take the first available. Had layovers at Yankee Joe and the camp above Redmond wash. Awesome hikes at both. The flowers were great but are going to be even better soon.

 

[Big Wave]

Friends stopped by the put in on the way home from Show Low Yesterday. Talked to a commercial guide who was at the take out when the lion attack victim came out. Victim had puncture wounds on the bridge of his nose but the cat missed his eyes.
He confirmed the missing boater story somewhere around Canyon Creek. Found his life jacket. I heard from a reliable source that he was allegedly an expert boater who had an aversion to wearing life jackets. He wasn’t a expert boat rigger cause they found his dry bags near Pinball.
Be safe on the Salt this week. Don’t become internet rumor mill fodder.