Day 16: 66 miles. Total: 790 miles
Today was all about the Salmon River, which I rode beside most of the day. The Salmon made up for my disapointment in the Snake. Unlike the Smale, the Salmon is wild and free.
But the day started on the Little Salmon River. This is what it looked like where I camped last night
This morning the road followed the Little Salmon down stream. While the road was slightly downhill, I knew it wouldn't get any steeper as I was following this slow moving river. All of a sudden the road narrowed, the shoulder disapeared, and started downhill at a much steeper grade. When I looked back at the river I saw these 2 waterfalls.
Both the river and the road were now going downhill at a much faster pace. Here is a little video of the rapids.
I'm sure some of my river rafting friends know all about the Little Salmon River. The rapids continued on 20 miles to where the Little Salomon joined the Salmon at Riggins.
At one point, on the Little Salmon, there were trucks parked on both sides of the road and hundreds of people fishing. There were also some Nez Perse selling fresh Salmon out of a cooler.
Riggins is another river rafting capital, with numerous outfitters, tours, etc. all along the road. There were also jet boat trips to Hells Canyon.
I ran into Kelsey, Rachel, and Dan again just as they were about to go river rafting on the Salmon. Their biked were being shuttled to the take out point 10 miles down river in Lucile. I did laundery in Riggins before heading on.
From here on I was following the Salmon, which is a very big river.
Later on I met up with Kelsey, Rachel, and Dan and we rode into White Bird together. We cammped in their little park. The locals were mostly friendly. A woman came by and invited the girls to take a shower. I guess that happens to them a lot. Definite advantages for pretty young women not often afforded to us old geezers.