My wife and I returned yesterday from a 100 mile, six day float down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. This river flows through the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness. We had some tough weather for four days but we were prepared and it was beautiful. It was great to be disconnected from normal life for a while.

Of course, we returned to concerning news on so many fronts, too typical these days, but I wanted to comment on the decision to end protections for 58 million acres of national forests by allowing road construction and logging, including in the Frank Church Wilderness. (This is an executive order and seperate from the bill being considered in the US Senate to sell public lands.) This order will have massive impact on many wilderness areas and this pristine river. The water was so clean and clear. Sediment runoff into the river from road construction and logging will be a disaster. If you want more on the trip, keep reading.

We went with Tight Lines Fishing, an outfitter I recommend using. They are very experienced on the Middle Fork and dealt with everything that came up, including some nasty weather. This was more of a whitewater float trip than a fishing trip, but there was enough fishing to keep most folks happy. You fish from boats and the guides were good at getting us into easy spots to fish. It was just about right for my wife who is not an angler but was able to catch some fish on dry flies. I fished on my own around camp early and late in the day and got my fix in. It’s mostly cutthroat fishing, but on my own I got some rainbows and bull trout. The fish are not particularly big, but it was fun enough.

We also had some side trips to hike a little, visit waterfalls, sit in hot springs, and look at pictographs. So, a good trip for folks who are not fanatical anglers. The food was very good as well.