WesternRiverRats.com
The Main Salmon has a new rapid
And it's big!
Sometime around April 1st, Black Creek flashed into the Salmon river corridor and created a new rapid. The flash flood completely filled the river corridor with debris and rock which created an impoundment behind the new rapid and completely damned up the river. The new rapid has a very big drop which looks to be about 25 feet and created a slack water pond which totally submerged Salmon Falls (for now). There are some big holes at the base of the new rapid too.
Actually there are two now rapids, Alder and Black Creek. Alder was similar to Black Creek but easier. Alder Creek Rpid is at mile 8 slightly downstream from Alder Creek Campground.
The Forest Service plans on waiting to see what runoff does to the rapid before making any plans to alter the corridor. As of this writing the river is running about 50,000 c.f.s.. Keep in mind that runoff has not really started yet, so the rising river level could mean significant changes to this rapid before most people ever see it.
Update: I floated the Main during the week of Labor day, 2011. The river was below 4,000 c.f.s.. This rapid is intimidating, however, not as bad as I thought. We ran the left side without any issues. Several boats ran it while we watched and even the most inexperienced boaters came out alright. Your experience may vary! Sometimes it may be better to run the right side. Good luck!
If you are interested in seeing images of this new feature, you can click here to go to the Black Creek Blowout Rapid page and take a look for yourself.
Update: We are starting to see new videos of this rapid. click here to see one.
As they come up I will post links to interesting articles about this.
The Spokesman Review has some interesting things to say as well as some good links.
Alder Creek Rapid
Black Creek Rapid