From here on, the rock you encounter is granite, as is the entire 200-mile Selkirk Range. Two fires in this century have reduced the sidehill forest, but an adventurous trip down into the canyon bottom will reveal huge cedars and large windfall pools in the creek with 10-inch rainbow and brook trout to be caught. I stumbled into this bottom after getting slightly lost. After a night's rest, I tried fishing and discovered the fish were unafraid and eager to try my flies. Restraint in fishing may be called for here, but difficult access and navigation to the canyon bottom before the three-mile point may impose restraint.
Fishing is generally good throughout the length of the creek.
The ponderosa pine, aspen, and cottonwoods will have disappeared when you reach the first crossing of Canyon Creek just past the 7.5-mile mark. This is where you enter the rain forest. This magnificent forest, about one-half mile wide, continues for seven miles. Apparently forest fires stop here due to the wetness. Experience has shown that clothing can't be dried, even during September, without a campfire, no matter how warm the weather.