This was a rare trip in that I knew next to nothing about it beforehand and would be jumping on Keith's permit. We would have 70 miles of mostly flatwater and occasional Class II riffles between Clarno and Cottonwood. Keith would be bringing a support raft and his kids would be bringing a couple friends so Heather and I jumped at the chance for this to be a mellow first multiday raft-supported river trip for her kids. I'd pack dehydrated meals I knew we would have a fairly epic lengthwise drive through California and out into north central Oregon. And that is about it. It was only later that I would find out we would be seeing lots and lots of basalt. Zora the dog came which provided some good entertainment too.
Keith, Kari, Zora, and I left the quaint and quiet Bear Hollow Campground early to start rigging the raft. We happily snagged a prime stagging spot underneath the Clarno Bridge (the shade greatly outweighed the swallow droppings). Despite this 8am start at the put-in, we still managed to not get on the water until about noon with lots of organizational shenanigans including a search for a place to fill up water.
The river started with lots of calm and occasional riffles but 4 miles down was Clarno Rapid, the only Class III rapid on our trip. Zora seemed to have a great time jumping between different boats as long as she ultimately was not too far away from Keith. After a lead-in riffle we pulled over to scout. The rapid had a river-width line of large boulders forming a row of holes with a tongue on the left requiring quick maneuvering to avoid a rock (the kayak line) and a meatier but wider line on the right (the raft line). The consequences were not trivial and so we thought a little about how to get all our boats and people through. Long story short I ended up making three trips through the rapid. We ended up taking about an hour to get past this rapid.
 |
| Clarno Rapid (and below) |
We ended our first day going only 10 miles, which set a brutal pace for the following days to make up time. As we would find out nearly all the choice camps would be taken by the time we would show up and this was the case with our first camp. Thankfully this first group was willing to share and so we slid a little further along from their main camp. The wind was wretchedly terrible. Gusts were sufficiently strong to kick up dirt and deposit sandblasted layers inside our tents all night long. Everybody slept horribly and I woke up with a very scratchy throat. And the wind continued through day 2. We needed to make some miles. I paddled the two-person IK with Claire and eventually found out that I could greatly increase the comfort and efficiency by sitting on the thwart. We had a few more nice riffles including Basalt Rapid and the scenery improved with growing basalt cliffs. We saw several large groups of bighorn sheep including a group of about 50. A nasty headwind was the status quo. I felt lousy all day long. Everybody pretty much collapsed in exhaustion at our lunch spot. We worked very hard to make 23 miles this day. We searched several times for a good camp and ended up with an only OK one. Camp was still windy but thankfully the gusting and snadblasting stopped.
Day 3 we pushed to go 25 miles. We stopped to check out some petrogylphs at Potlatch Canyon but otherwise paddled and paddled. The trees were becoming less numerous but there were still some very nice basalt cliffs on the outside of river bends. Lots of paddling, lots of sun, lots of basalt. Still sick. Kids had fun. Once again we passed the best camps that were already occupied and made due with a single tree camp. Another windy night but thankfully reducing intensity.
For our last day we still had 15 miles to go. Finally with a break from the wind I flew my drone for a short aerial view of some of the sweeping river meanders near camp. Claire was quite insistent on trying out a packraft and so she paddled the first hour or so including some particularly splashy riffles she loved. The scenery was more desolate but some nice basalt cliffs and spires remained. We finally spotted the Cottonwood Bridge a little after 1pm which relieved us all I think. Graciously Keith gave us a pass on the full derigging and so after a busy hour of helping we set off to get kids food and camp.
So that was the John Day River. I'm sure it would be better appreciated if Heather and I were not sick for the whole trip, we did not have heinous headwinds and sandblasted nights, got better camps, and did not have to fight with long days to make progress on the river. The scenery was nice but largely unchanging over 70 miles. The lack of whitewater left me wanting. The group was good. The fishing looked great if that is your thing. It was nice to log more river miles. Thanks very much to Keith for leading the trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment