Asking for information regarding the Owyhee River
is the lower section suitable for open canoes with raft support?
Or have we already missed the "window"?
I'm looking for a Plan B River, as I think the flows on the Green River- Desolation Canyon are going to be too high on our launch date June 25.
Thanks!
Carol K
Owyhee River
Moderators: kenneth, sbroam, TheKrikkitWars, Mike W., Sir Adam, KNeal, PAC, adamin
Owyhee
The lower Owyhee is completely suitable for open canoes, especially with raft support.
June 25th can be a little late for the trip but the level is currently quite high and the drainage is sitting on massive snow pack. Good luck, the trip is great.
June 25th can be a little late for the trip but the level is currently quite high and the drainage is sitting on massive snow pack. Good luck, the trip is great.
I've run the lower Owyhee as late as July 4th weekend in canoes. It all depends on the snowpack and how hot June is. The lowest I've run it was 600 at the put-in and 490 at the takeout four days later. I've heard of people running it even lower but I think raft support would be difficult below around 600. It's a great river though for self support in canoes.
My trip last year was at 1450 cfs. See: http://youtu.be/htJOIz8M9lg
A good plan B might be the John Day, Clarno to Cottonwood. It's often good that late.
My trip last year was at 1450 cfs. See: http://youtu.be/htJOIz8M9lg
A good plan B might be the John Day, Clarno to Cottonwood. It's often good that late.
Nice video! And thank you for the feedback!
It's neat to see somebody else doing self contained trips in Dimensions.
The group has already done the John Day, this year we're looking for something new if possible. Another possibility is lower section of the Deschutes.
We will just cross our fingers and hope that things peak soon, and drop down to least 20,000 CFS. On the Green.
Carol K
It's neat to see somebody else doing self contained trips in Dimensions.
The group has already done the John Day, this year we're looking for something new if possible. Another possibility is lower section of the Deschutes.
We will just cross our fingers and hope that things peak soon, and drop down to least 20,000 CFS. On the Green.
Carol K
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Marc Evans
- C Guru
- Posts: 241
- Joined: Wed May 11, 2005 6:01 pm
- Location: Pullman, Washington
Carol,
I talked to a couple of people about low water runs on the Owyhee: one works at NRS and another an anthropologist who has study sites down on the lower Owyhee. Both said that you can run it down to about 600cfs in a small raft. The anthropologist is heading down with the BLM river rangers from June 20 - 29 and the rangers are the ones telling him that there shouldn't be a problem. In addition, you might check out this site which has runs down to 350cfs http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~walpole/kayaking.html
There is still a lot of snow in the Owyhee mountains, so I would think that you should be good for a late June run. Just keep an eye on the weather in the area. We have been cold this spring (10 - 15 degrees below normal and lots of snow, in fact it snowed yesterday in Pullman at 2400 feet in elevation). If we don't get a big warm-up the river should continue to run above normal, but not lose it all in one big event.
I've got a scheduled run on the lower Owyhee the second week of June. If you want I can give you update when we return.
Cheers, Marc
I talked to a couple of people about low water runs on the Owyhee: one works at NRS and another an anthropologist who has study sites down on the lower Owyhee. Both said that you can run it down to about 600cfs in a small raft. The anthropologist is heading down with the BLM river rangers from June 20 - 29 and the rangers are the ones telling him that there shouldn't be a problem. In addition, you might check out this site which has runs down to 350cfs http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~walpole/kayaking.html
There is still a lot of snow in the Owyhee mountains, so I would think that you should be good for a late June run. Just keep an eye on the weather in the area. We have been cold this spring (10 - 15 degrees below normal and lots of snow, in fact it snowed yesterday in Pullman at 2400 feet in elevation). If we don't get a big warm-up the river should continue to run above normal, but not lose it all in one big event.
I've got a scheduled run on the lower Owyhee the second week of June. If you want I can give you update when we return.
Cheers, Marc
Marc,
Thank you for your information regarding the Owyhee.
Our launch date for the Green River is June 25th, currently the gauge at Green River is at 29,500 CFS and expected to climb to about 40,000 by the 10th of June. One of the big issues is that the Yampa hasn't even crested yet! Unfortunately, I don't think flows will be down below 20,000 CFS by the 25th. Thus my interest in Owyhee as an alternate.
The North Fork of the John Day is also something I'm thinking about. My understanding is that can be run by open boats above 2000 CFS with no problems. Another thought is the lower Deschutes, but currently it's running at 8000 CFS, and I don't know what it's like above 4500 CFS.
Again, unfortunately, the group is locked into the last full week of June, and everybody wants to do a multi day trip ideally within an 18 hour driving distance from Northern California. We've already done the Grand Ronde and both sections of the John Day River several times and would like something new if possible.
Thank you for the link, I enjoyed viewing the pictures. If there are some Rivers suitable for multi day formal trips that I haven't thought of, please feel free to inform me! And please feel free to give me a report on your Owyhee trip.
Carol K
Thank you for your information regarding the Owyhee.
Our launch date for the Green River is June 25th, currently the gauge at Green River is at 29,500 CFS and expected to climb to about 40,000 by the 10th of June. One of the big issues is that the Yampa hasn't even crested yet! Unfortunately, I don't think flows will be down below 20,000 CFS by the 25th. Thus my interest in Owyhee as an alternate.
The North Fork of the John Day is also something I'm thinking about. My understanding is that can be run by open boats above 2000 CFS with no problems. Another thought is the lower Deschutes, but currently it's running at 8000 CFS, and I don't know what it's like above 4500 CFS.
Again, unfortunately, the group is locked into the last full week of June, and everybody wants to do a multi day trip ideally within an 18 hour driving distance from Northern California. We've already done the Grand Ronde and both sections of the John Day River several times and would like something new if possible.
Thank you for the link, I enjoyed viewing the pictures. If there are some Rivers suitable for multi day formal trips that I haven't thought of, please feel free to inform me! And please feel free to give me a report on your Owyhee trip.
Carol K