The morning was chilly, and again I woke up on the ground. I have to patch this sleeping pad.

We downed the last of bits of our coffee (weak tasteless coffee at that, but on the flip side we’ve had dark french press the first 3 mornings), and hiked back to where we had cached our boats.

Oooo, that must be a big bear

Ensue bushwack. Getting to the river from the trail was a bit of a willow bashing fest, but we finally made it and transitioned to packraft mode. All gear stored inside the boat, day bag with sunscreen, lunch (in this case one packet of hickory smoked tuna. That’s it. Sucks.), and water.

We launch on a swift little current on a narrow log-congested river, gravely braids of river channels everywhere.

The water was clear and blue and green and it felt like we were flying through the canyon, until we got to logjam, after logjam, after stupid logjam. It was still worth it though. I actually expected more in an un-dammed river in the heart of the Sawtooth Wilderness.

The 4.5 miles of trail turned into 9 miles of river with all the meandering channels, but still worth it.

We were worked by the time we made it back to the car mid-afternoon. We had a short rapidy section about half way, but it was mainly the numerous log jams we had to portage with full boats and careful walking to not impale ourselves on dead trees, or break a leg in a beaver hole. So much fun!! Really!