Trip Report: Middle Fork of the Salmon with Jamie Levy

July 13th-19th, 2026

Boundary Creek to Cache Bar @2.26 ft

by Jamie Levy

It’s such a trip to be on my trip!

The Snake Medicine card is about Transmutation. This is the act or process of changing

something completely, especially into something different. Exemplified by the shedding

of the snake’s skin. 

Our kids are too young for a trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon and someday I’d

love to bring them back with us. The very first shedding of my skin took place on the

drive to Idaho. Being a mom is all consuming for me. I got to spend 10 days being a

friend and a woman, a kayaker, a lover, a musician…I got to fill that usually occupied

mom-space up with the essential parts of me that take a back seat during this important

motherhood chapter of my life. It was soon apparent as we lost cell service (leaving 7

capable adults watching our kids at home) that I could turn towards me and other

passions. An image of myself started to materialize as a more confident and capable

whitewater boater and a truly wild woman. I clearly thought if I’m not catastrophizing or

worrying for the kids, making food or doing a million micro moves the questions

beg, what do you wish to fill the chasms of your mind space with instead? What if we fill

it with enchantment and wilderness visions?! Oh how sweet it is on the other side of that

portal, playing your songs and shining your light. It happened that when (inevitably) my

dark passenger started to weigh in, I channeled something else and it was easy to find

that channel because it was the one with the most ease. I continued to turn towards the

most ease on this trip, I found the green water and let it run. 

Although we tried to recruit some additional kayakers, it turned out I was the only one in

a kayak for our trip in and amongst 8 rafts, although I did have a very capable inflatable

kayak companion on the last part of the trip. I’ve always relied heavily on my partners

and while it did feel outside of my risk tolerance to paddle 100 miles of class III/IV

whitewater in the deep wilderness without kayak support, riding in Brandon’s raft was

not a consideration due to my human nature. I really wanted to be in my own boat for

this iconic stretch of river for myself. So I did! At the level we put on the river 2.2ft it

paddled more technically like a class III river, but I do understand how the remote

nature of the river can change that whitewater rating into a class IV.

The first consideration was for what boat to bring. My half slice has been my boat of

choice all summer. I’ve paddled it in the kayak club clinics with the intention of pushing

up my level and always gaining confidence in my ability to hit my combat roll. When I

got back into the river-running Dagger Code boat, I felt really stable. My priorities for this

MF trip weren’t to slay every river mile or catch every wave, but to have a positive

experience and minimize my risk which meant not donking my head off rocks in the

deep Idaho wilderness without safety in place. I cannot highlight enough the importance

of my time spent in the clinics with Chris Maze this season in preparation for this trip. I

am a better boater in all the facets of my paddling now than I was at this time last

summer.

Our trip was enchanted. We had steady flows and didn’t need to fly in any of our gear,

moderate temperatures, one radical storm that blew out Loon creek above us making

the river run muddy on our last day. We got to paddle rapids every day, with a soak in

hot springs or hike to pictographs, jumping off rocks into crystal clear mountain runoff

and the whitewater was continuous and fun. Our crew even put out a brand-new fire

that had just been kicked up by the wind from the ashes of the camp before us, a good

reminder to drown your ashes at camp.

There was one moment in particular that stands out when we were running Hell’s Half

Mile which looked super tricky for the rafts at low water. The upper section of this river is

approximately 20 + miles with a 46’ gradient and can get technical for rafts at low water

levels.  I went through the rapid without anyone in sight and I channeled the energy of

my own female boating companions at home. In that moment I owned that energy that

we all share which can be elusive for me at times as I tend to be muted by fear. I felt my

radical female companions charging with me in the rapid and felt the power I needed

and the sustained focus I wanted to get where I needed to be. 

Our entire Middle Fork crew was really solid with lots of river running experience and at

least two of the rafters were experienced kayakers as well. I could feel them looking out

for me. We became an efficient river community immediately using our collective good

communication skills and benefiting from good trip planning and preparation. The reality

is that when we’re on the river, we’re ultimately responsible for ourselves. Going into the

trip, I did not feel that my self-rescue skills were very strong and I knew I couldn’t tie a

knot, so with this trip in mind I took my first swift water rescue course with the RFKC run

by Peter Benedict and Chris Maze in May. I learned so much in that one weekend and

while I’m still inadequate with the rope, I am exponentially more aware of what needs to

be done and what we need to look out for.

There were young teenage boys on inflatable kayaks some of the time and I did feel a

shift in my ability to support them and to see the water from the perspective of a safety

boater. I loved how empowered I felt by that course although I didn’t know it until I

needed to use my skills and I knew where to be. I understood the mechanism of the

problems the rafts could run into. I was a helper and could support the group which was

awesome for all of us!

Probably the biggest challenge for me came on the last day where the water got bigger

and the rafts started to run a little tighter together, reading the whitewater became super

challenging as all I could really see was the rafts and then catching an eddy only to get

caught up in the next wave of rafts. The solution was to run out in front of the group and

that should have been my move, but instead I danced with and dodged the rafts all

morning, by the time we got to the take-out I was ready to unleash my fierce energy on

the boat ramp process. Look out!

I don’t know if there has been a full transmutation, but I did shed my skin on this trip and

feel altered as I look forward to our next river adventure. Thank you to Vida, the Wild

Women and the Roaring Fork Kayaking Club and community for being on this trip with

me!!