The Klamath at Keno Dam is warm, algae-filled, and stinky. Three of us launched on the still waters of Lake Euwana—the reservoir behind the dam—to get a small sense of the upper river. It was a lot like I remembered from 17 years ago, when I put-in at pristine Spring Creek only to ply a film of algae on Klamath Lake a few miles downstream. This time, we portaged Keno Dam and started into the rapids of the canyon below with mouths shut tight.

It didn’t seem like salmon water, but the Klamath has always been a river system on the edge. Before dams and agriculture, Chinook salmon and Steelhead navigated a warm Klamath Lake to reach ideal spawning habitats upstream. Now with 4 of the 6 Klamath dams gone, perhaps the next generation will resurrect the journey.

We stopped at Spencer Creek, the farthest upstream tributary where Coho salmon spawn. My paddling partner Seth Ricker, a fish biologist, pointed out the strategically placed monitoring infrastructure. Time sensitive counters were placed on the river bottom a few feet apart, so tagged fish could be identified as traveling upstream or downstream. “Well done,” Seth lauded.

At the deconstructed J.C. Boyle Dam site, a class IV rapid ushered us into the Big Bend whitewater stretch. In 2008, I struggled through a de-watered riverbed before easily eddy-hopping down a spring-fed 300 cfs. Now, a flow of 1,700 cfs had my full attention. I’d underestimated the upper Klamath, packed way too much weight, and struggled to move my over-loaded boat.

The first rapid of day 2 was long and full of sharp boulders, typical of the upper K. It was no place to be upside down, so when I flipped and missed a roll, the eject button came quickly. A proper swim; boat pitch-poling on boulders, thigh smashing into rock, at least the only lost items were my tent poles. What was I doing with a tent on IV+ whitewater under clear weather anyway?