Thnks, Bill!
Bill Tuthill wrote:
Deep Creek to East Fork Owyhee to Three Forks
Flows were skimpy, marginal, too high, way too high
Around 1 AM we finally rolled into the BLM campground at Rome Oregon,
having nearly digested a wonderful seafood buffet enjoyed at Reno's
Atlantis casino. Sorry to wake other campers, we set up a tent
to ward off the cold and heavy dew. One of our party is a dentist
who scheduled patients until noon, so we didn't leave Livermore
until 2 PM, and consequently got stuck in Sacramento's rush hour.
After light sleep due to a full moon, the next morning we were up
at 6 AM to meet our shuttle driver in Jordan Valley.
To simplify the shuttle, we had decided to run Deep Creek, then the
East Fork Owyhee, then the upper Owyhee to Three Forks. Most people
put into the East Fork Owyhee at Garat Crossing, but this involves
driving halfway across Idaho. Our shuttle driver also said the road
to Garat Crossing would be impassible for another day or two until
it dried out. On maps, the Deep Creek shuttle looked short and easy.
It was easy, but not short. Despite rain the day before, the road
could wave been negotiated in a Prius. We reached Deep Creek around
noon, where we prepared and loaded our inflatable kayaks.
The upper 10 miles of Deep Creek were willow-choked. Except for five
barbed wire fences, progress was easy enough, but slow. There were
a few difficult passages under branches, and we had one swimmer when
his boat got sideways in a willow-lined channel. Watermelon Seed, a
class 3 rapid at higher flows, was too narrow so we had to portage.
Aside from that and the barbed wire fences, some of us never needed
to get out of our boat. We passed many fine campsites.
Around mile 10, a creek came in from the right, and another from the
left around mile 11. After that there were some excellent rapids,
mostly fast class 2+ with few willow blockages. We camped at mile 13,
thinking we would never finish this trip in four days, the time our
dentist allotted before scheduling more patients on Wednesday. Yum,
jambalaya with Cajun sausage and shrimp.
After a ranch, where another party put in, Deep Creek enters a deep
(surprisingly enough) canyon, where it meanders back and forth for
20 miles to make 8 miles progress as the crow flies. We passed the
other party while they were eating breakfast, and never saw them again.
They were supposed to finish in 4 days, but we doubt they did. Rafts
could have negotiated the river below this lower Deep Creek access,
although portaging Owyhee Falls would be difficult.
In mid afternoon we finally reached the East Fork. The flow looked
fast, and there was a stiff upstream wind. It was a lot muddier
than Deep Creek. We continued downstream to Rickard Crossing, which
is where cattle must cross at low water. There was just a steep trail
leading down to the river. According to Grant Amaral's Idaho guidebook,
this is the take-out for Deep Creek. Having read guidebook statements
saying "there are no campsites in Lambert Gorge" we camped right there
across the river. It was windy but the sun was warm. We should have
gone further downstream into the shady gorge, because...
Boom! We thought we were under attack by someone with a rifle.
But it was just a popped kayak tube, echoing on the rock wall across
the river. The dentist had overinflated at lunch and forgotten to
let air out before beaching his boat. Fortunately the bladder was OK.
Sewing up the torn tube took about two hours while the spare person
prepared dinner. Yum, tortellini with pesto, squash and zucchini.
The next morning we noticed a huge camp above Rockfall (class 4-)
and another nice camp above Owyhee Falls (class 5-6). We portaged
high on the left bank. Seemed like the trail was almost a mile long.
We had to do it twice, once with boats and once with gear. Later
we learned that commercial outfitters line their rafts on the right,
and have their guests walk around on the trail we used to portage.
The East Fork gorge is beautiful below there. After another 2 miles
we came to Thread the Needle, supposedly class 4. Without dynamite
there did not seem to be any viable route thru the rock-strewn drop,
so we lined it on the left. The Needle itself was easily runnable.
Finally we felt we were making progress, although it took longer to
reach Crutcher's Crossing, with old ranch house and new grain silo,
than we expected. Confluence with the South Fork was not far below.
Unfortunately its water was even muddier than the East Fork. There's
an unusual rhyolite needle sticking straight up out of the water.
About a mile down the upper Owyhee we came to a group of rafters
camped above a class 3 rapid. After talking with them for a while,
we easily sneaked this rapid on the right. We encountered another
class 3 rapid about a mile below that one, also easily sneaked.
With flows around 3000-4000 cfs (hard to say with the muddy water)
we wanted to avoid any long swims.
We unexpectedly reached Stateline Cabin, which marks a class 4 rapid
around the next bend. It wasn't a good campsite, but it evening and
we were too tired to negotiate a class 4, which the rafters had said
was almost a mile long. Yum, Pad Thai with green peas and red peppers.
Cabin (4) was around the corner: fast current and huge waves. Even in
a 14' raft there would be danger of flipping. Fortunately we scouted
on the left, and that side turned out to be alternately runnable and/or
lineable. We proceeded around another corner to where a low island
divided the river. Our side had a huge cliff-induced hole stopping us,
so we decided to ferry across to the island, run the right channel,
then ferry back to the left bank below the island. The worst feature
of this rapid lay below the island: a house-sized rock in the middle
with most of the river piling into it, creating a giant pillow.
Three of us made the ferry. We waited for the fourth, who was in an
even smaller kayak then we were. A 5-foot refraction wave launched him
in the air, but he came back down in his boat. Unfortunately at this
juncture he missed a few strokes, collided with a midstream rock, and
fell out. Soon he climbed back in his boat, but without paddle in hand.
As he scraped an undercut rock on the right bank, his paddle was right
in front of him, but he didn't see it. Hand paddling didn't work well.
All the force of the river slammed his boat into the house-sized rock!
Showing Olympic-caliber leaping skills, he jumped onto the rock and
climbed to the top. His boat and camping gear disappeared downriver.
Our fearless leader Mr. Riparian finished lining his boat past the
house-sized rock, and gave chase thru what turned out to be a class 3
runout. He eventually corralled the boat. My remaining buddy threw a
50' rope and hit the stranded kayaker right on the hands. We yo-yo-ed
him to shore and he was OK. He walked down the left shore, and luckily
found his paddle in a small eddy. After the class 3, I gave him a ride
on the back of my boat, but we tipped over when turning into the eddy
where his boat rested. It seemed a miracle that he had survived.
Cable, the last major rapid, appeared to be solid class 5 at this flow.
We sniveled down the right side to the eponymous portaging cable, now
sunk too low for heavy use. Moreover we had neglected to bring pulleys.
Again contrary to guidebooks, which claim a class 5 portage, there was
an easy trail on the right, although we had to pass gear and slide boats
down a cliff to an eddy. Finally, it looked like that dental patient
would get his filling on Wednesday morning.
Several miles below Cable is the most wonderful hot-spring I've seen,
and I've seen plenty. The hot then warm water has no sulphur smell,
is clear as spring water, and makes a scenic waterfall into the river.
Too bad we didn't have another night to camp there.
Take-out was only two miles downriver. When we got there, we thought
the shuttle drivers had failed us: we did not recognize our truck,
it being covered by red-brown dirt. The headlights had caked-on mud
about an inch thick. Evidently the road between Pleasant Valley and
Three Forks isn't as good as the roads to Deep Creek or Three Forks.
At the canyon rim, we had cellphone coverage, contrary to service maps
issued by our cellphone carrier. The drive home was without incident,
except for local reports of flooding in Winnemucca, and the dentist
actually managed to get some sleep before doing that filling.
|