Salmonberry River Backpack

Angie, Scott, Matt, Jaclyn, Cami and Cirque backpacked to the Salmonberry River over the Memorial Day Weekend. The Salmonberry River is small river found in the northern Oregon Coast Range. The backpack was ~3 miles and was relatively flat except for the trail going down to the river. This was a relatively easy backpack, but the challenge was fording the Salmonberry River. Everyone made it without going for a swim, but there were a few close calls. Here are some photos from the trip.

Cami having fun chewing on a stick.
Snake! Angie found this little guy near the river. We believe this is a Northwestern Garter Snake.
Cirque, Jaclyn, Angie and Cami around the campfire.
Cirque looking hungry.
Angie and Jaclyn laughing at Matt's sock. See next photo.
Matt's sock. He was trying to dry his socks around the fire after fording the river earlier in the day. Unfortunately the fire was a little too hot and melted the Smartwool.
Salmonberry River.
The following morning we explored some of the abandoned railroad tracks/tunnels in the area.

Train Tunnel. 2 exposures manually blended in photoshop. 1/2 sec and 9 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer.
Group photo outside one of the railroad tunnels.
Damaged railroad tracks on the Salmonberry River. The tracks are suspended ~20 feet above the water and are only supported by the strength of the steel tracks and the railroad ties. In December 2007, this area was significantly damaged by heavy rain. The rain was due to 2 typhoons that combined in the Pacific Ocean and then slammed into Oregon/Washington. The mountains in the coast range received 10-14 inches of rain in a 60 hour period from December 1-3, 2007. The question now is what to do with this rail line. I'm in favor of retiring the rail line since the cost of fixing the damage is likely greater than $25 million and the Salmonberry River is home to one of the largest wild steelhead runs in the Pacific NW.

1/5 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer.

Matt, Jaclyn, Cirque.
Scott and Angie