The River of No Return: Two Excursions Down the Salmon River of Idaho

Book Synopsis: This book retells the fun, excitement and near calamities that occurred on two excursions on the Salmon River of Idaho, the famous River of No Return, in the freewheeling era before the Salmon became closely managed and controlled by government agencies and highly commercialized by expedition companies.

In the summer of 1964, ten Explorer Scouts and three adult leaders ran the Main Salmon River of Idaho in two war surplus ten-man rubber rafts. In those early days of river running, it was possible to walk up to the banks of the Salmon River, launch whatever flotation device one might have, and head downriver into the wilderness areas of central Idaho on a high adventure.

And high adventure was just what the members of the Hibbard, Idaho, Explorer Post were after. As the Explorer Post leader, I directed the advance planning and preparations for this excursion. During the actual seven-day trip from Corn Creek Campground, a few miles outside of Salmon, Idaho, to Riggins, Idaho, over 100 miles downstream to the west, I also kept a careful journal of the entire experience.

The journal records the rugged beauty of the Salmon River country; the fun and excitement the boys had as they fought through the white water challenges of this great river; the near disaster that occurred as both boats overturned, one in Whiplash Rapid and the other in Ludwig Rapid; and the final challenge of roping the rafts around a washed-out Forest Service bridge just before reaching the town of Riggins.

It was truly an adventure never to be forgotten. In fact, in the summer of 2012, 48 years after the event, a reunion of the participants took place in Hibbard, Idaho. The renewal of old friendships was accompanied by good food, good company and the excited retelling of the remarkable journey we had taken together.

Fast forward to the summer of 1972.

This was the year that the film "Deliverance" came out, which launched a national craze for river running, and which, in turn, eventually brought controlled access to the wild rivers of the western United States, including the Salmon and its tributaries.

It was also the year that members of my family - three sisters, a brother, a brother-in-law and I, decided to make a historic run of the Salmon. In just seven days and in a single ten-man rubber raft, we ran the Middle Fork of the Salmon River to its confluence with the Main Salmon, and then on down the Main Salmon to Riggins, Idaho, a distance of some 200 miles by water.

From a near disaster going over Velvet Falls on the Middle Fork, to the beauties of a fantastic rainbow arching over the canyon of the Main Salmon, to the personal and inspiring anecdotes of the participants: this second excursion on the Salmon River is an exciting complement to the story of the original river trip of 1964.

These two experiences can almost certainly no longer be duplicated, at least in the lower forty-eight states of the United States. River running is now so highly commercialized and so carefully controlled by governmental entities that private excursions similar to the ones recorded in this book are difficult and expensive to undertake. This book offers a nostalgic glance back to a simpler time, an earlier time of greater freedom and true adventure.