Changing My Mind on “The River of No Return”
Main Salmon River joining the Middle Fork, Frank Church Wilderness, Idaho. By Kris Cochran
When I feel like I have rocks in my head, I hike downstream along “The River of No Return.”
By rocks in my head, I mean thoughts of things I cannot change.
I toss them in the river with a no return policy. Trying to change my outer world is as futile as attempting to row upstream.
I’ve rowed Idaho’s wild rivers. When you’re about to hit a boulder, your only option is to back oar. It will wear you out in a hurry. A far better plan is to know the river and find a clear path through the rock garden.
Everything I want comes to me when I trust nature’s downstream flow. There is an intelligence far greater than I waiting to deliver new possibilities when I take the course of least resistance.
Fishing with eagles and herons
Cottonwood bank on the Salmon River, Idaho. By Kris Cochran
My 3-day trek began where the North Fork flows into the Main Salmon River. The 42-mile canyon ahead leads to the confluence where the Main and the Middle Fork join in a protected wilderness covering over two million acres.
The river is shallow and slow at the top of the canyon, inviting me to ease into my annual river ritual to clear my mind.
Bald Eagles and Great Blue Herons fish the Cottonwood banks. They learned eons before I did that a Cottonwood bank is where trout lie in quiet waters. I had hoped to capture pictures of an eagle with a Big Brown trout in its talons or a heron spearing a whitefish
Bald eagle fishing, Salmon River, Idaho. By Kris Cochran
Great Blue Heron fishing the Salmon River, Idaho. By Kris Cochran
Instead, the day gave me images of eagles and herons with wings up, flying downstream.
Good spot to let go of judgment. Allowing others to choose their own channel gives me more headspace to navigate my own.
Scars and scourges upon the earth
Abandoned general store, Shoup, Idaho. By Kris Cochran
The second day, I hiked along the stretch of river near the abandoned mining town of Shoup. Gold miners rushed to the canyon in the 1880s and forced the indigenous people out.
Mining shack, Shoup, Idaho. By Kris Cochran
The Shoshones lived peacefully along the river for thousands of years until the miners floated their flat bottom boats downstream loaded with mining equipment. The river’s current was too strong to make a return trip upstream for more supplies. Thus, the miners dubbed it “The River of No Return.” They dismantled their boats to build mining shacks while the army forced the Shoshones onto reservations.
Good spot to honor my ancestors and let go of wanting more than I have. The earth will reclaim the scars and scourges upon her and begin again, with or without us.
Walking with Big Horn Sheep
Salmon River Canyon, Idaho. By Kris Cochran
On my last stretch, the canyon narrows as the Main Salmon rushes to unite with the Middle Fork a couple of miles ahead. The steep canyon walls are home to Big Horn Sheep. On past hikes, I’d only seen them across the river and some distance off.
Big Horn Ewe, Salmon River, Idaho. By Kris Cochran
On this trip, a herd of ewes came off a cliff not 20 yards in front of me. It’s lambing season, yet they didn’t mind my presence at all.
The ewes let me walk with them a while before scrambling up a narrow ravine. I wouldn’t trade this moment for all the gold mined on “The River of No Return.”
Big Horn Sheep, Salmon River, Idaho. By Kris Cochran
Good spot to end my journey. Everything I want comes to me when I let go of the outer world and trust the downstream flow of life.
Thanks for walking with me,
Kris
