Kalama River: the stinky time of year

A few of us floated on down the Kalama River on Sunday. It was beautiful out!! More rain would make for better paddling, but I suppose I can enjoy the sunshine a while longer. 

Besides flat water, we had to contend with lots of decomposing salmon. You can read about salmon here to find out why there were so many dead salmon (it has pictures for those of you with a short attention span): www.nps.gov/wrst/forkids/upload/salmnbook.pdf  I probably do not need to tell you that it was really stinky.

Last time I was on this river (a couple months ago) we conducted an arduous portage around the dam. I believe the dam's sole purpose is to divert water for a fish hatchery, and it is a major pain in the arse. We watched lots of salmon trying very hard to jump over the dam to go home, but even the biggest and strongest couldn't make it (note the irony here?) I made a fool out of myself cheering them on "go fishy go!" to no avail. Also, this dam is right below the best rapid on the whole river, and makes it virtually un-runnable (because most dams, including this one, create deadly hydraulics). Finally, it is a long, hard walk around through thorny blackberry vines. This time we got on a little below the dam for the best the river has to offer, the "red barn" run. Because you take out by a red barn! Duh! Anyway, back to the main attraction: whitewater!!