There were several small streams which can probably only be counted on for water in early summer. At the mouth of Slide Creek, we reached the Chetco. There was a good campsite there with dry kindling stored in a old culvert-pipe and a decent swimming hole at the river. We went from tired pack animals to Melvillian water worshipers and watergazers in the time it takes to get clothes off and prepare, mentally and physically, for the shock of the cold. We laid over a day at Slide Creek, although the second day was cloudy.
Weather here can be a struggle between the forces of coastal fog and the forces of inland heat.
If the fog is not vanquished by early afternoon, you're probably stuck with it. On day three, we moved up river, fording the stream upriver from Slide Creek. The water was less than knee-deep in the last week of June. After a short distance, we reforded the river at Blake's bar. The water here was slightly deeper.