Bayhorse - Challis Bridge

Bayhorse to Challis Bridge is the only portion of The Salmon River we did not actually boat or float.  We consider the diversion structure located near Hwy 75 Milepost 239 to be too unsafe to risk.  We came close to paddling it in July 2012 but did not have a partner or safety boat or shuttle at the time.  We know from many local stories and anecdotes that this hazard is navigated by various individuals.  Frankly, we do think it is prudent to "mess around" with that hazard.

As far as we are concerned it is one of the major hazards on The Salmon River below the SNRA's whitewater rapids.  We spent considerable time in 2010 attempting to obtain various waypoints from the shoreline.

This is another page where geology is king.   Falma already has written some great stuff about this area. The best natural feature to write about here would be the mountain sheep.  There is a very appealing passage in the 1937 WPA Idaho guide that would be appropriate here, too

The entrance into Round Valley needs to be duly noted.  An extensive description of how Round Valley came into being would be appropriate on here or the next map page.  We would leave the narrative on Challis until the next page.  However, this would be an appropriate place to mention The Land of The Yankee Fork State Park and possibly the purported buffalo jump.

The second lower diversion is nowhere near the hazard or threat of the first diversion.  The second diversion can easily be avoided since it is easily visible from far upstream and since the river channel is quite wide with a slower current speed.

The Bayhorse to Challis Bridge is all about geology and sheep and Round Valley.

The informal access at the Highway 75 bridge might be mentioned for safety purposes.

You can't really tell someone NOT to boat any particular stretch of river.  I'm not really sure how to approach the description of the upper diversion hazard.  I think that whatever is written about that spot needs to be written very carefully and even perhaps inspected by government attorneys to make sure that it doesn't say the wrong thing.  Anytime you start talking about man made hazards you are stepping into potentially very dangerous editorial areas.  I definitely wouldn't want to be the one who said, "This is what you say."  Approach description of that hazard with great caution and involve as many people as possible in deciding whether the wording is fair and appropriate.

Note that this map page is the only one that shows Challis Bridge.  There is a confusing overlap here that occurs roughly in the middle of the stream braiding down river from the Challis Bridge RAP.

See notes accompanying the next map section.