The River of No Return

Shopping in Salmon, Idaho, we learned an odd fact: One-third of the land area of Idaho is occupied by only 5000 people. A glance at the map shows the central section is a vast and dangerous wilderness area, sliced in half by the raging Salmon River. It has earned the name, "The River of No Return."

Lewis and Clark strongly considered canoeing down it to the Pacific. After exploring 27 downstream miles, a scouting party returned exhausted and said in substance, "No way, Jose!" The explorers wisely chose to trudge on northward 100 miles to Lolo and then cross the mountains on horseback.

We drove downstream from North Fork 20 miles to confirm Lewis’ judgement. President Carter was not intimidated, however. He rafted through the worst of it clear across the state to Riggins. We stayed the night on the north bank of the river.