The Forest Service blasted a major logjam Wednesday that has plugged up the Middle Fork of the Salmon River for several days, stranding hundreds of rafters in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.

Courtesy Idaho Public Television

A new, close-up view of the log jam See more photos

The U.S. Forest Service and outfitters familiar with the Middle Fork of the Salmon say they've never seen a logjam like this before.

Jackie Nefzger with Mackay Wilderness River Trips tells NewsChannel 7 said crews spent Wednesday afternoonchecking for debris. It will be Thursday afternoon before the river is reopened. She says the Forest Service wants to be sure the river is safe before they open it up again.

Hundreds of rafters were literally stuck upstream.

This jam was apparently spurred on by a rain storm that washed 50 to 60 logs into the Pistol Creek Drainage Monday, not to mention boulders and other debris, jamming up in an area of the river popular with rafters.

It is some of Idaho's most beautiful and remote terrain, the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, through which the Salmon River twists and turns. 

For anglers and boaters, one of the most popular stretches is the Middle Fork of the Salmon.

Rafters typically launch at Boundary Creek and travel about 100 miles downstream, but this week, Mother Nature foiled those plans.

Paul Boehlke/KTVB

You can see the rafters along the left side of the river in this photo

"They had rain which caused the Lake Creek drainage to slide and that pushed a bunch of logs, from 50-60 logs into the rivers and boulders and it's completely blocked the Middle Fork," Nefzger said.

Nefzger has 24 visitors from Seattle and six guides stuck in that group of rafters you can see by the river's edge. 

She estimates up to 300 rafters and boaters are in the same situation.  As you watched this aerial video continue downstream you can see just how serious that problem is, an impenetrable logjam.

"We launched yesterday morning, so we were on the river before word got out that the river had been blocked, so we were camped up above it,” Nefzger said.  "We did try to get a hold of our guides to get them to stay there, but the didn't get their satellite phone message on time and they did go on down river not knowing and they did run into the logjam.

Paule Boehlke/KTVB

Another view of the log-jam

All the outfitters are coming up with contingency plans.