Y is for Yellow Pine Bar

I remember Yellow Pine Bar as my favorite camp on the whole Main Salmon, although some of the other big white sand beach sites come very close. What I remember as upper Yellow Pine Bar does not show up in the guide book I have. But we sure aimed for that site alot. There was a hike up to a high point where you could look down on Big Mallard which was the every first thing you ran the next morning. It was always in the deep shade from the adjacent mountain shadow. The water was dark and almost steaming sometimes.

That camp was (and likely still is) fabulous, assuming it's still there after 25+/- years of floods and runoff and who know what else.

It turns out that the history of the Bar up above the campsite is extensive as well. A school, gardens, homesteads, and an airstrip all exist on the Bar up above the river. As usual, Conley and Carrey do a bang up job describing it in their book, River of No return. I cannot improve upon it and therefore will not repeat it. The work they did with river history in their books stands alone.

So next time you come around the corner after running Split Rock, pull in at upper Yellow Pine Bar, if it's still there. Enjoy the camp. It's wonderful, at least in my memory. Hike up to the overlook for a look at Big Mallard and enjoy the view.

When you see them in the dark of the night dancing under the full moon, honor those ghosts of the people that came before you. While it was and is beautiful, I'm sure it was hard living on Yellow Pine Bar.