the SMITH river

This river - turquoise blue - is one of the most beautiful (if not in fact, the most beautiful) river I have ever seen. It is so crystal clear because of the serpentine or peridotite in the rock and because the rock itself is granite - so there is little sediment to cloud the water.














The Smith has wild and scenic status because it has no dam blocking it's natural flow. It is also supposed to have one of the largest populations of Steelhead. They are a type of trout that hatch in the river, swim to the ocean and return to the river to spawn - meaning they are anadromous fish - like the Salmon and Sturgeon. Abby Imsand Nielson is afraid of Sturgeon because they are like large, prehistoric monsters.

We drove up the river corridor as far as Cave Junction, Oregon, and then back down to camp near the smaller North Fork of the Smith.

This might be a bit of a challenge, but if you look very carefully, there is something up in this tree - quite near the top in fact.

















Did you spot him?















Here's our cozy little camp - replete with puppy dog and minivan. I think at this point I am lounging in the tent because it is what we termed "red hour" - the time when the mosquitoes come out to play.


We stayed a couple of days by the Smith, hiking around and relaxing before we decided to head back toward Humboldt County. Seems I put the camera away for a while, because we didn't document our stint by the Mad River in a lovely spot named 'swinging bridge.' The old bridge is no longer but there's still a huge rope swing that I remember lobbing myself off of when I was in college.
...and even though it was cold, Josh took the challenge, launching himself off the cliff hanging on to the 40' rope swing and let fly into the water. Very fun...!



next we go to meet Tim, Michele and Ula on the South Fork of the Trinity at Surprise Creek.