One week later; the three of us were on the road again. Heidi, Nathan and me. This time Heidi and I were official United States Department of Agriculture volunteers. That meant we were able to ride in the forest service vehicle. We left early for the almost 3 hour drive to Corn Creek on the Salmon River. Half of the drive is on a not well maintained, winding, narrow River Road along the Salmon River. With rock cliffs on one side and a steep drop into the river on the other side. The road dead ends at Corn Creek where the trailhead begins. This is also the “put in” for the Frank Church Wild and Scenic River of No Return also know as the Salmon River. If any one asks Heidi or me where we go to church, we reply, “I go to the Frank; the Frank Church. I’ve floated this multi-day stretch of the Salmon River many times and have even camped at our destination, but I’ve never hiked to Lantz Bar.  

The plan was to hike in the 12 miles and camp in the forest service cabin. Nathan had gotten word that the cabin lock had been broken off, the door to the cabin was broken as well. He grabbed a new padlock before we left his office.

He also had to turn off the irrigation to the apple orchard. Turn off as in remove the gravity feed hose from the side creek so that water stopped flowing to the orchard.

Lantz Bar is an old homestead and a very large fruit orchard, mostly apples. This 90 mile section of the Salmon River is famous for its growing season. Lots of fruit trees and wild berry bushes along the whole section. 

Nathan had told us that this cabin had metal cots and mattresses. To me and Heidi this sounded like a very disgusting sleeping set up. We prepared ourselves by bringing the ground covers to our tents with the hope that we could sleep out on the ground or at least use the ground covers to cover up the mattresses. 

This hike was much warmer than the weekend before. As a matter of fact our two warmest backpacking trips this year were the May Salmon River and the October Salmon River. We had on shorts and short sleeve shirts in the middle of October. 

The only issue with the Salmon River is the jet boats. It is a Wild and Scenic River, which means no roads, no electricity, no mechanized vehicles. But the jet boat was grandfathered in. You can float the river to any point and until the water gets to low, hire a jet boat to take you and your gear back to your truck and trailer. And in the case of mid October, if you have a lot of money, you can have your own personal jet boat (it uses jet fuel) to cruise up and down and through class V rapids. They are loud and can be heard coming way before you see them. I worry about the noice and the wildlife. How do the fish stand it? How do the birds and otters deal with it. We’re in the middle of the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 and have to listen to jet boats. 

The hike in was great. Half way in I realized I’d forgotten Clorox wipes. Again.

 We found random apple trees on the trail and went bat shit crazy over the apples which was funny since we were going to spend the night in an old apple orchard. It was a long day and I was ready to get to camp about an hour before we got there. 

The old homestead sits up on a bench above the river. The entire place is apple trees. I think there were some pear trees too. Our idea to sleep outside was squashed as the ground was covered in rotten apples and bear shit. The whole place smelled like sweetness. I’m surprised all of the wildlife was not in attendance chowing down on all this fruit. 

The cabin door had been broken. Nathan took it off the hinges and we helped him rig up a temporary but nice fix so that the door was usable and lockable. Then we helped him pull the irrigation device out of the creek. The apple trees were on their own for water until next spring. The cabin was small. The rodents were big and well fed and left lots of sign that had to be swept out. I sat out in the orchard sucking down some electrolytes to stop a migraine while I listened to Heidi and Nathan set up house. The metal bed frames were hanging on the walls. There were three of them. No one was going to have to sleep on a table this time. They made a horrible noice as the rusting metal legs were being unfolded and set up on the concrete floor. The mattresses were rolled up and hanging from the beams. Nathan and Heidi awkwardly released them from their hanging spot and unrolled them onto the metal frames.

“If this were a hotel; I’d be out of here…..” I heard Heidi say. ”Was someone murdered on these. Ugh”. 

We wrapped our mattresses with the tent ground cloth before adding our sleeping pads and sleeping bags. Nathan found newspapers in a drawer and covered his mattress with newspapers. 

We didn’t have to cross a creek this time. It was so warm that Heidi and Nathan both found an opportunity to polar plunge in the river. I got my feet wet. The river was freezing. I don’t know how they do it. 

It was so warm, not only did we not make a fire in the wood stove we left the door open all night. 

I waited for a long time for someone to get up and go pee. I couldn’t wait any longer. I quietly got up, opened the screen door and stepped outside. I walked away from the cabin and found a place to pee. It was quiet and serene. Then I heard movement in the cabin. And then as if they’d been up for hours; “did she go without us?’ The hustled their way out the door. Gang toity! Everyone slipping on rotten apples and bear poop looking for a pee spot. I laughed out loud. I love these hiking buddies. 

We did end up making a fire in the morning and having some breakfast before packing up for the 12 miles out. 

Another beautiful day. It was so perfect. Even the jet boats couldn’t ruin the experience of being outside and enjoying the wilderness, the wildlife and the company. The jet boat people had no idea we were watching them from the trail as they stopped to fish for chinook. 

That wrapped up our backpacking season. We have big plans for next year assuming fire season is non existent again. There’s always a big chance of fire and smoke in the summer. Heidi already ran out of the forest once last year with her pack on running down the trail at 8:00 at night with ash falling on her like snow. You never know what life will bring. Jump on every chance you get. There may not be a next time or a next year. Do it now.

More fun adventures and book recommendations can be found at Wild About Books.