Salmon River, Continental Divide

Hiking in the Bitterroot Mountains, I heard the rushing of the current of the mighty Salmon River. Deemed too dangerous to cross by Lewis and Clark, who called it ‘unpassable’ and instead took a detour, I’m following the CDT, which will force me to make the crossing. Nowadays, however, there’s a nice sturdy bridge, and I won’t have to hoist my backpack above my head and wade through a fordable spot, like explorers of yore would have had to do.

The Salmon River gets its name from the Indigenous people who inhabit the area. Nez, Perce, Shoshone, and Bannock have lived here for millennia and took advantage of the huge migrations of salmon heading to their spawning grounds each year to set salmon runs, trapping the fish. Later came fur trappers from the Hudson Bay Company, who roamed most of the western United States and Canada, trapping wild animals for their pelts, and exporting them to the fashion houses of New York, London and Paris. The river itself is extremely impressive, wide and deep, with many churning rapids. The water flows violently, and I can understand why so many people in the past dreaded crossing it.

I enjoyed hiking this wilderness, but the highlight was a rest stop at one of the hot springs. The thermal pools at Goldbug Hot Springs provided me with a welcome respite and the first hot bath I’d had since Colorado. It was a great pleasure to soak my aching muscles here, doing nothing but floating, preparing for my next schlep all the way to Helena, Montana’s capital.