The blow out at Orelano created a true rapid; its kind
of tight, biggest problem is that the obstacles are
trees and branches rather than boulders. Anyone at all
unsure of being able to make quick decisive moves
should scout that one. The rest of the way the pace is
slow enough you can float on by and marvel the power
of Mother Nature.
Randy Barnak
Just got off Middle Fork Friday 26 July. Our group 5 Cats and 6 Kayaks. Went through the Orelano Blowout on the 21st. It is an honest class IV with a sweeper log on the lower end. When you scout walk far enough to see the sweeper. There is a narrow channel around it but it will save you some last minute manuevering. We didn't scout down that far and had some quick oar work to stay off the log on left and the rock with logs on right. 3 of the kayakers elected to portage. There are a lot of logs in it. Did get a report when we took off af a party pinning a raft on the top log jam and also of a 2man IK going under the sweeper. When we went thru the sweeper was under about 3 inches of water. You need to be careful downstream as there are logs and debris in the river almost to Marble Creek. The Jack Creek blowout is just above Loon Creek. The river has been forced to the right and is undercutting the right bank some. It is a straight forward drop. I stopped and did a quick scout because you can't see the anything but the horizon line and lots of debris downstream and didn't know what was in channel it was clear. The only debris was at top that you can see and below in the river channel.
There is also a tree in the river just below Sunflower Flat. It comes in from left may be a hazard at lower water. We put on at about 2.2 and there was plenty of room to go around but it does have the deeper part of the channel blocked.
A very good trip seemed like we had a new surprise every day. Rained a couple of evenings. Had a big wind and lightning storm at Loon Creek. Schaefers had a guide get his hand bit by a bear at Johnny Walker Camp, that same night a party that we knew had a bear in their boats at Camas Creek.
Kitchen creek is a small tributary located across from and a bit down from Cache Bar. As of July 27 there was a new class 3 rapid at its mouth.
Mike Quigley
Hey all,
Just wanted to touch on something that they really don't cover during the safety talk at the middle fork put in. We had an incident last week involving a microburst. It
came through our camp so fast we hardly had time to do anything. When it was all said and done we had a 200 ft Ponderosa Pine where our kitchen used to be, and
another tree had fallen across drybags where people were getting ready to set up their tents. The good news is nobody was seriously hurt, although one person in our
group got her face really raked by a branch and another person was pinned in the river under a big branch for a short time. Apparently these microbursts happen quite
frequently on the middle fork, and with all the fires that have burned through there recently alot of the timber is not very stable. So I just thought I might throw out the idea
that when you pull into a camp, it might not be a bad idea to look for a safe area, that is free of trees where everyone can meet up in the event of something weather
related. The worst part of the whole thing was looking for people after the trees had fallen.... I mean how often do you not have someone in the kitchen doing something.
Anyway just a word of warning because I found out first hand how little mother nature cares about us. Other than that, the cutthroat fishing the first two days was
outstanding, and actually I think the party tornado that hit our camp the next night did more damage, at least to our livers. :-) Ohh by the way if you would like to see
our tree, it is laying half in the water blocking the main entrance to stateland camp. As an aside, make sure you keep your camps clean somebody at Jack Ass camp
got mauled by a bear the same night we had our tree incident. Never a dull moment on the Middle Fork :-)
Jason Kitley
Jason,
Glad to hear everyone was ok. I have some friends who had a tree come down on their raft a
couple years back...destroyed the dry box, broke an oar, etc but no
one hurt and boat not punctured. Your idea of a clear meeting place
is a good one. You look at those big ponderosas and feel pretty safe
knowing how long theyve been there and how many weather events
they've seen.....but all good things must come to an end and I know
what those things sound like (and feel like) when they hit the
ground. Pretty awesome.
Also, my renters had a bear problem at sheep creek. One of the coolers got gnawed on and the poop tent was knocked over.
Ted
I ran the deadwood last Saturday, from the lake to the SF. It makes for a very long day. The upper section has a number of log portages and blind drops, that I would highly recommend scouting and/or portaging. We must have portage 4 or 5 logs and two rapids.
The lower section is fun (I my opinion). The river opens up (no blind drops all boat scouting). There was one log portage on the bottom, but it was very easy to see (the large ponderosa still had all its neddles).
By the way I would consider myself a class 4 kayaker and have yet to run the lower 5.
Warren
4-14-02 swam staircase yesterday, had so much fun i swam slalom too.....Jason Kitley
Lots of people up there last sunday! jkisraft and I ran down the SF Payette,
and Staircase was fun, but thinking its gonna really stomp at high
water. Still a good surf wave at the entry, the rocks will be
funner higher, good wave train above the corner, and some good surf
holes forming down in the runout by the culvert. I think the
furniture still has some rearranging to do as the high water digs out
around the big rocks.
Ted Day
Thanks,
Sheri Hughes
Middle Fork Salmon Ranger
And for a view to Maintain Status quo
Kitchen creek is a small tributary located across from and a bit down from Cache Bar. As of July 27 there was a new class 3 rapid at its mouth.
Mike Quigley
You may also be interested in some opposing views from small group Main Salmon river runners.
We just got off a four day trip on Deep Creek a tributary of the East Fork of the Owyhee from Mud Flat road to Rickerts crossing. There are three fences to watch out for.
The first is within sight of the put-in and can be snuck under on river left with a little help. The fence can be lift while you slip under.
The second is the most dangerous as it is in a willow thicket and an hour down from the put-in. The current is fast, there is a small landing and eddy above the fence about 10-15 yards and then one right at the fence, both on river right. We had to lift all of the boats over the fence.
The next fence we expected was below Current creek at the mouth of the canyon above watermelon seed rapid, but it was not in place this time, as it had been in the past.
The third fence was a single strand of barbed wire about a mile below pole creek and above castle creek. It was in a flat water section and easily negotiated on river left.
The Willow thickets were a challenge and in several places and made finding your way down river in the right channel a difficult feat. In some places the river was completely closed off by the willows and you had to push your way through or get out and wade through them, dragging your boat.
The best camp sites are Juniper glades just above and just below nickle creek. The rest are typical Owyhee sage brush flats. The horizontal snowstorm we encountered the Deep Creek/East Fork confluence was quite a sight.
Mike C.
Joe Evavold
So tie your boat up good. However the level peaks at 10pm and drops to 7,000 in the morning. Fishing for Bass was outstanding and we even caught a few trout.
One of the really impressive events happened as my buddy and I were cooling off and enjoying a cold, never been frozen, beverage in the shade at Granite creek when a steelhead appeared in the 8' wide stream. He was 3 feet from my feet as they soaked in the water! We watched for an hour or so as he made several differing attempts to climb the second drop with no success. He had determination. After an hour, two more Steelhead joined him and all continued various attempts with no success. Two washed back out into the snake river after exhaustion set in. I was able to clearly identify an adipose fin on the largest one and believe the smallest did not have one, although I am not 100% certain of that.
The next morning we spotted a cinnamon bear on the bank across from granite creek. I had already launched but one of our group got several pictures from his boat before the bear jumped into the water and swam over to our previous night's camp. I presumed he headed up to granite creek for a shot at a steelhead breakfast.
As for I.K.s off the top. Sure anythings possible and you might enjoy it, you will have the upper end to yourself, but its not really that much fun to walk your boat to the top of the chutes and then walk it to the deeper water around elkhorn.. I think there is about 200 cfs below boundary and until you get to about little soldier camp (river mile 31 ?0 there is plenty to get stuck on.
We did 3, 20 mile days and they took about 7 solid hours of rowing. The lakes are getting big enough that you can no longer just drift down the river. The river is still a great place but there are way to many people who think they know what going light is all about until they try to pack those tikki tourches on the raft along with all manner of other gear.
IMHO I would fly my rafts etc to Indian creek and deadhead as light as possible, and fly coolers and
heavier essentials to Little/Thomas creek
by Randall Spence
Boundary Cr. to Cash Bar.
1.62 ft. on 7/19/01
13 people ranging age 5 through mid 50's
2 rafts, 4 cats, 1 IK.
Weather was beautiful after a hard rain at indian creek.
Boundary creek to indian creek was difficult with larger craft.
Sulfer slide had no unobstructed line.
Wrapped 14' raft on hidden boulder in chute of lower powerhouse.
No unobstructed line through Tappen 3.
Narrowly missed death by sweep boat while stuck on rock above webber
Lots of lifting, pushing, pulling particularly at wide sections.
It sounds like you know how to be self contained in IKs (surprising) You should not have any problems getting through in IKs
Over night temps were very moderate. Sleeping out would work.
20 mile days are very ambitious particularly in the first few days.
We had 1) 25 mile day (exhausting)
Great time. Great friends. Beautiful scenery. Hard work.
SYOTR
Inflatable kayaks only though. Down to Deep Creek you rub bottom a lot and there are three beaver dams to drag over. And don't be in a big rush. One day it took us (my wife and I) seven hours to go seven miles!
The entire trip from Garret to Three Forks took eight days of paddling over calm pools interrupted by riffles. The big blockages, Owyhee Falls and Eye of the Needle, are hassles at any flow. At 200 cfs, Owyhee Falls requires a bit longer portage.
Eye of the Needle presents the most striking difference between, say, 2000 and 200 cfs. The river is about eight feet lower requiring a short and steep portage over a blockage of room-size boulders. The "eye" itself, which you would normally squeeze through, is perched well above your head.
Cabin rapid is a fun pinball bounce after dragging over the total blockage at the top. And Cable rapid is easily run through the center slot.
There's a cache of old rusty animal traps on river bottom near Beaver Charlie's place. Bet they once belonged to the old guy? Also found two handsome Bighorn ram skulls. Both were bit "ripe," so I left them there to cure for the summer. Might hike back in there to get them someday.
Two hundred cfs is about the lowest limit, even for IKs. The ideal flow is between 250 and 400 cfs, which carries you over the shallows.
And, while the East Fork is runnable at low flow, the South Fork is not. I bet there wasn't more than about 10 cfs coming out of the South Fork at the confluence. I figure the Petan and 45 ranches divert most South Fork water. Not good for the river's ecosystem.
I just got back last night from a three day on the Owyhee from Rome to Birch creek, and we had a great time at around
850 feet. I see that this morning it hit 1800, so it might be on the last big flush of the spring ( not much snow up there) Bullseye
was fun as well as Whistling Bird.
We had a 16' cat and a 14' maravia self bailer. Didnt see another person the whole trip, and saw one mountain lion, seven big
horn sheep rams, a couple golden eagles, even a river otter. It was a great trip, but a little low for the raft- they drug in a few
spots but nothing bad. Had no problems in the cat though.