With our marriage, it is time to change the name of the blog. The new blog will be Richard and Sandi on the Road.
http://richardandsandi.blogspot.com
Monday, May 30, 2016
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Paddling the Owyhee River in Oregon
Owyhee River trip May 7-14
On Saturday morning, I got up very early, picked up Randy at 7, and met Roger and Steve at Steve's house in Fort Collins. We had a good lunch in Rock springs at the Broadway Burger Station, away from I-80. The rest of the day was a long drive to Burley Idaho. We stayed at the Super 8 and ate at El Caporal restaurant. Sunday, we drove to Boise; Randy and I missed an exit, so had to backtrack an exit. We had lunch at only restaurant in Jordan Valley Oregon. We set up camp at the put in, and had dinner at restaurant in Rome. The restaurant is also a motel and RV park, and about the only thing in Rome. Roger and I made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Monday was very windy, with whitecaps on river, blowing upstream. We had breakfast and lunch at the restaurant. We decided at 2 pm to start on Tuesday. Only two parties put in that day. More people showed up as the day went on.
On Tuesday, the boat ramp was busy, as you can see in the photo. We got on the water about 9:45, and off at 2:45. The first few miles were flat, through farmlands, then we had fun rapids. We camped about mile 15 on left.
Wednesday we got on river after 10. We hiked to Rustlers cabin, where we talked to an Oregon public radio crew filming the trip. Artillery rapid had a series of big standing waves which filled my canoe. We wanted to canp near Pruit's Castle, but Ryegrass and the next few campgrounds were full. We stopped at mile 25 on the left. We hiked on loose stuff, and got rather high, but not to the top of dome. The whole area is called Chalk basin, with alternating layers of pale sediment and dark lava flows, really quite amazing.
The canyon was spectacular. Montgomery rapid was exciting, with numerous rocks to dodge. To my surprise, I stayed upright. We took the first open camp after Montgomery. Rather, when we saw that Jackson camp was occupied, we pulled into a sandbank upstream and made camp. It was very hot, so we all gathered in the shade of a tree and told stories.
On Friday we got on the river fairly early. We stopped and looked at the old ranch buildings at Hole-in-the-Wall. We ran several unnamed rapids. I got flipped in one of the unnamed rock gardens. I got bruised up a bit, but no serious harm done. When we got to Greeley camp we had a decision to make. The two guys camped there offered to let us join them, but we voted to paddle a couple more hours to the take out. We compared the scenery to Lord of the Rings, or computer graphics, it just did not look real.
The drive out from Birch Creek was 30 miles of dirt and gravel roads, nothing but cows, not even any side roads to speak of.
We decided to eat fast food, and press on to Burley/Hayburn ID, staying in the same Super 8 motel as before.
Saturday we just drove, through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and finally Colorado. We got home a day early, despite laying over a day due to wind.
The Owyhee was spectacular. I would like to go back sometime, perhaps at low water, when we might have our choice of camps. Perhaps we could be more focused on hiking, and less on miles or hours on the river.
On Saturday morning, I got up very early, picked up Randy at 7, and met Roger and Steve at Steve's house in Fort Collins. We had a good lunch in Rock springs at the Broadway Burger Station, away from I-80. The rest of the day was a long drive to Burley Idaho. We stayed at the Super 8 and ate at El Caporal restaurant. Sunday, we drove to Boise; Randy and I missed an exit, so had to backtrack an exit. We had lunch at only restaurant in Jordan Valley Oregon. We set up camp at the put in, and had dinner at restaurant in Rome. The restaurant is also a motel and RV park, and about the only thing in Rome. Roger and I made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Monday was very windy, with whitecaps on river, blowing upstream. We had breakfast and lunch at the restaurant. We decided at 2 pm to start on Tuesday. Only two parties put in that day. More people showed up as the day went on.
 |
| Randy |
 |
| Roger |
The canyon was spectacular. Montgomery rapid was exciting, with numerous rocks to dodge. To my surprise, I stayed upright. We took the first open camp after Montgomery. Rather, when we saw that Jackson camp was occupied, we pulled into a sandbank upstream and made camp. It was very hot, so we all gathered in the shade of a tree and told stories.
 |
| Randy |
On Friday we got on the river fairly early. We stopped and looked at the old ranch buildings at Hole-in-the-Wall. We ran several unnamed rapids. I got flipped in one of the unnamed rock gardens. I got bruised up a bit, but no serious harm done. When we got to Greeley camp we had a decision to make. The two guys camped there offered to let us join them, but we voted to paddle a couple more hours to the take out. We compared the scenery to Lord of the Rings, or computer graphics, it just did not look real.
 |
| Richard |
 |
| Steve |
The drive out from Birch Creek was 30 miles of dirt and gravel roads, nothing but cows, not even any side roads to speak of.
We decided to eat fast food, and press on to Burley/Hayburn ID, staying in the same Super 8 motel as before.
Saturday we just drove, through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and finally Colorado. We got home a day early, despite laying over a day due to wind.
The Owyhee was spectacular. I would like to go back sometime, perhaps at low water, when we might have our choice of camps. Perhaps we could be more focused on hiking, and less on miles or hours on the river.
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