Lower John Day, 2017

Well, a three day turnaround between the Owyhee  and the North Fork John Day river trips was pretty luxurious for prep time so we shortened it down to one day back home before we were headed to our third river in three weeks, the lower John Day.  The Clarno to Cottonwood float is about 70 miles and you can’t have any appreciation for the country you float through unless you see it from the water.

 

Departure from Clarno

 

You start out in some pretty, well, lets just say, agricultural, country.  Country infested with noxious weeds, showing lots of signs of erosion, plenty of cows eating down the riparian area and broken down abandoned equipment.

 

If you enjoy this view, thank agriculture

 

Abandoned Barn, knapweed riparian area

 

But before the end of the first day you start to get away from all that and you float into paradise for the next 4 days.

 

Golden Eagle enjoying dinner

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Deschutes River, Fall, 2016

Wow, is fall flying by!  Wasn’t it just September?  Now the end of October is closer than the start.  I guess there’s just a bit of catching up to do here.  Fall means a lot of things, among them is steelhead season and getting on the big D to see what can be dredged up in that department.  The first float on the Deschutes actually began in September and then there it was, October by the end of the trip.  The second trip was only 4 days later.  A little bit of a whirlwind, but was it ever nice to be on the river.  And of course it’s always nice to get out and see some fall sunsets as storms threaten that usually don’t produce a whole lot.

Trout Creek Sunset
Trout Creek Sunset

 

Juniper Ridgeline, Sunset
Juniper Ridgeline, Cotton Candy Sunset

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