Owyhee River Private Boater Frequently Asked Questions | Ep. 192
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- čas přidán 9. 03. 2021
- In episode 192, Zach tries to answer some Owyhee River private boater frequently asked questions that we frequently receive. Learn more about rafting the Owyhee at www.whitewaterguidebook.com/o....
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I have only done it once - Rome to Birch Creek. It started sunny with good flows, and like Zach said, half of Boise showed up. If you anticipate it being crowded, I would highly recommend getting to Rome early the day before you launch. By late afternoon it becomes an absolute shit show. By night, the lot is packed with trucks everywhere, double parked - don't expect great sleep. All that said, once we launched, boats seemed to magically spread out and it was an amazing trip, though it went from 85 degrees on day one to rain, hail and thunder storms day 2.
Touché
Zach, the video quality of your videos has greatly increased over the years. Lighting, audio and sharpness. You’ve invested some time and money and it shows.
Thanks for noticing! Yes I've been working on getting better at this.
Zach!!! I love your introduction to your videos. :) Your modesty is astounding. Great videos! All of them.
While working for the Outdoor Adventure Center at Idaho State University, I ran an oar frame 12 foot hyside bucket at 145 CFS. No cooler, took a dry box, food was durable. Took a Johnny Partner for participants who were in Hyside Padillacs I and II.
Needless to say, I got stuck on rocks in places (think low water Middle Fork of the Salmon stuck) and would have to get out and push or pull. Lots of fun and a wonderful experience even at this level
We got lucky in 2019 with a really late snow melt and switched from a really high main salmon to do the Owyhee in the first week of June. We had great weather, few people, and good flows. It was a great trip!
Hey Zach, we had a talk on the phone last week with the same things discussed. Thanks for throwing up the video, much appreciated!
And as I expected, water never came up for a proposed start tomorrow. Maybe end of the month!
put in on 2nd
Did it at 700cfs with a 13.5’ and 14’ boat. We did keep it light. No problems. Little boney in places
great video now I must do this
Bring a snow shovel... and sunscreen.
My first trip we woke to 4" snow on day 3. Three Forks to Rome, 2,400 cfs. Two portages.
My second trip water levels dropped so low we spent 4 days dragging boats. YP Ranch to Pipeline. I don't know what the flow was but it wasn't enough. Yes, that's 22 miles in 4 days. Nice weather though!
My third trip got absolutely hammered with thunderstorms and rain. It was impressive. Rome to Birch creek, 3,200 cfs.
I love Owyhee but it is not a casual undertaking. Nothing is predictable and the area is very rugged and remote when things go wrong. The roads to Birch creek and Three Forks are long, rough and nearly impassable when wet. I watched a van have to get towed out of Birch creek because the grade is too steep for two-wheel drive. If you need a weather forecast, guidebook or have a schedule, this is not the river for you. For those who do venture in and manage to survive, Owyhee is quite rewarding.
Snowpack and water levels are near historic lows this year but as Zach said, it ultimately depends on your gear and comfort level. I personally won't put a raft in less than 1,200 at Rome. 1,200 is more than enough but levels can fluctuate wildly one day to the next. Owyhee is a special place. Tread lightly and enjoy!
That sounds spectacularly exactly the same as my trip YP to pipeline many years ago - we collapsed exhausted, after four days of standing boats on their edge to get them thru the rocks, at the pipeline and sent a rescue team out for what turned out to be a thirty-ish mile hike (oops) thru light snow. Poor Lisa got a light frostbite in her feet but still drove the truck back for us! We were just about to send the second team out 36 hrs later when they showed up. Helluva great trip! Loved it. Someone below suggested bringing sun block and a shovel - well might wanna pack yer hiking boots too by god! Dayum I love running rivers... oddly a mere few days ago I was purging a lifetime of photos ( I’m old - we actually used to print em) preparatory to moving house and came across a bunch of pics from that trip long about twenty years ago. Anyways, don’t be diving into that section unprepared yallz fer sure. Very beautiful scenery tho undoubtably.
@@thepilgrim4473 It is indeed about a thirty mile hike from pipeline, and from what I remember is about the only place where a person can actually hike out of the canyon. We did good, nobody got hurt but wow what a never ending boulder garden. Our ordeal was in the satellite phone era so we just called in the shuttle. We knew the river was low but the lowlands were covered in recent snow and the forecast called for significant warming so we launched in faith. It did warm up, the snow all melted and the river never rose an inch. When we got to the river and saw it was too low, I was the guy who persuaded the group to launch in faith. It turned out okay. We are still friends. Mostly. I'm going to try again this season, Rome down.
@@nathanegbert977 Amazing parallel as I also was the fool that talked everyone into launching - after all, says I, “the side streams will kick in! “ haha - there weren’t any! We’d just driven from California and had no back up plan so the thought of retreat was not bearable. A friend of mine, who didn’t want to launch, pissed into the river and said, prophetically, “ we’re gonna need every drop!” We certainly did indeed! Well we’ve boated serious white water for thirty years together and are still good brothers so no grudge there! I will mention that, astonishingly, we sun bathed in hot sun and drank two weeks worth of beer at the bottom of that canyon waiting for the truck while the rescue crew up top froze their asses off. There’s another lesson in not underestimating an elevation gain. Good luck on your trip down to Rome - I believe there’s a mild class fiver down there somewhere? Or mebbe I gotsk the wrong run.
@@thepilgrim4473 When you travel to get to a boat launch, you have committed to an adventure come hell or high water. Sometimes it's hell. Sometimes it's high water. But it's always an adventure! Sometimes there is not enough man for the river. Sometimes there is not enough river for the man. As boaters we press on. It's what we do. If there is not enough river for the man, you pee in the water. If there is not enough man for the river, you pee in your pants.
I'm doing Rome down this season, so no fivers for me. I've seen that fiver. It's a guaranteed flip at certain flows, and is a difficult portage. I think to do it again, I would just take the swim over the portage... but that's easy to say sitting in a warm house...
@@nathanegbert977 Well said my friend, well said indeed! There are only two trips that I recall, over more than thirty years splashing around, of ever having “pulled the plug” so to speak: the aforementioned of course and a wee trip on the Smith. Sometimes old Ma Nature makes the call and other times one’s better nature itself steps up. We’d just shot out of the West fork wherein we’d rigged for a pleasant, tho not necessary, overnighter. The river had risen to well over 10k and we crashed thru like a rocket, boat scouting everything on what was basically a continuous 14 mile class four romp (still one of the best boating days I’ve ever had). Nowhere at all to stop let alone camp. We merged with the East fork heading for the infamous Oregon Hole gorge and stopped to road scout with the combined rivers (we estimated) at over16k coulda been more, but omg it was fierce. There was an unavoidable five foot guardian diagonal at the top with even worse below. For an entire mile. I pulled the plug on that one, even tho my old pal Winnie could “see a line”. He can always see a line, he’s That Guy. Tho in fairness he is also the best oarsman I’ve ever met... “Winnie” says I “ you eat that one your boat’s going to the Ocean and you may be joining ol’ Davey Jones.” It’s all about the “penalty points” n’est ce pas?
Yes indeed it’s always an adventure and there’s always a risk, tho my favorite saying has always been: “no risk, no adventure. The greater the risk, the greater the adventure”. Alas at my approaching dotage, I must accept that there are runs I will now never make. With age undoubtably comes wisdom, tho it’s that wisdom itself that brings the sadness of knowing that the tingling youthful infusion of sheer...well... bliss created by charging head first into unknown adventure with healthy youthful vigor is long gone.
But I too can still sit in my nice warm house telling myself that I’d rather swim the horror than do the “portage from hell”...
Now about those stories where I shoulda pulled the old plug but didn’t (lol!)...
See you on the river my friend...
if you need to ask about your vehicle making it in or out at Birch Creek, you should find another vehicle to take.
I was thinking this was for the whole Owyhee..but it was good regardless. To me the trick, unless I am putting in and taking out on one of the few potential paved accesses, is are the roads dry enough to travel, and is there enough or too much water to float the river in a manner I feel good about. I have put in at Garrat's at just bout 500 and dropping and it was a beautiful race down to Rome to get done before the water ran out. It was a bit below 300 when we finished. 1000-3000 is a nice reasonable level, I think personally. The roads, man are the issue. I have seen a 1 ton with dual wheels, sunk up to the door handles...on the roads. Those roads when wet, are nothing to get cocky about in my opinion. This is referring to duck valley to Rome portions, but it's worth the effort to get out there.
I do think being aware of these particular head water mountains snow pack is helpful in trying to decide a marginal flow or a dropping flow. If there is still a reasonable percentage of snow then your low water start is going to have a slower drop. Maybe it will feel more likely to get it done. If you get on and there is a lot of rain in the forecast, well if you are on the river, you aren't likely to get a shuttle in to any of the dirt road access for a good while. All I got.
Put on a week ago at 660 and dropping. Did it in packrafts in 4 days. Mostly amazing weather, saw only one other group, fun and very manageable in small boats at these flows. Very glad we choose not to bring rafts, definitely some tight spots… the group behind us wrapped pretty bad at Nuisance in a 13-14’ raft. A small cat would prob be fun. Birch Creek Rd was wet and slick from rain down low and snow up high… 4x4 was a must.
We just did a commercial trip with rafts at 550. It goes low but requires the right skills and gear.
I've never taken out at Birch Ck, always gone to Leslie Gulch. Never had a tow either! This is because I don't have a vehicle that will make it in or out of Birch Ck. But this was all many moons ago! Anyone have any more recent info about Leslie Gulch? How is the road in and out in the last few years? Are we being too optimistic trying to do this in 4.5 days to Leslie Gulch. We would be trying to do it at 1K plus end of April.
I'm pretty sure I answered the question about the Birch Creek Road in the video. Doing it in 4.5 days is highly dependent on river flow, wind, and your groups ability to move downstream.
@@GearGarageTV I'm sorry Zach, maybe you misunderstood. I'm asking about the road into Leslie Gulch at the end. Last time we were there we had a Subaru WRX and it was scraping on some of the steep ford crossings. I don't expect that you ever go there Zach (you should some time it is beautiful), but maybe someone else reading the comments may have some thoughts. We have a Prius and load it up with our 16' Cat, Frame, Cooler, Dry Box and all our gear. It is a sight to behold! We take it boating everywhere else, but want to be sure we can get it in and out of Leslie Gulch. Thanks for your reply. Yep you're right about trip length time to do it.... Wind being the biggest issue!
Epic troll on Boise boating community. You are a saint if you actually have to field all those ridiculous questions 😂.
It wasn’t meant as a troll. Just my best possible answers to the questions I get every year during Owyhee season.
how about any info on the upper
What info are you looking for?
Hoping to hear about short trips. Any experience doing it in 3 days with IK's and light rafts?
Anyone from CO want to rally an Owyhee mid-week trip...mid April?
I’m wanting to do one of the forks to Leslie... when it’s super high... 12 through the 22 iit seems to be the highest...
Can you recommend shuttle drivers?
My recommendation is Owyhee Adventure Shuttles.
Eva Matteri out of Jordan Valley has run shuttle for us. I can't say for certain if she still does, but her number is 541 586 2352
Just read some bad reviews (mountainbuzz) on Robin Easterday - Owyhee River Shuttles. Owyhee Adventure Shuttles had good reviews.
Sad that rivers are no longer earned