Lessons in Contrast on the Grand Salmon Expedition Source to Sea in the Name of Salmon

In the summer of 2022, Libby Tobey, Brooke Hess, and Hailey Thompson kayaked the Salmon River from the source, in central Idaho, USA, to the Pacific Ocean. Their thousand-plus mile expedition was undertaken as a conservation campaign promoting the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams and a moratorium on the Stibnite Gold Project to save the rapidly dwindling Snake River Basin salmon populations from extinction. The following is a collection of journal entries and reflections from Brooke Hess’s expedition experience.

Brooke Hess I

The Grand Salmon Expedition In the 79 days we spent paddling from the source of the Salmon River to the Pacific Ocean, we experienced three completely different worlds. The headwaters of the Salmon River, the four reservoirs of the Lower Snake River, and the ocean-influenced Columbia River provided three stark contrasts. We could have been paddling on three different planets. Instead, all were connected by the same river, all within the same watershed. The Salmon River begins in central Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains. The Middle Fork of the Salmon flows through the Frank Church Wilderness, which is, by U.S. law, undisturbed and undeveloped. In April when we launched, the river was just a trickle, the water cold and swift. When we were thirsty, we would cup our hands in the water…

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Kayak Session (Digital) - 1 Issue, Paddle World Magazine 2023

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