Rafting – Occidentalist

Floating 70 Miles of the John Day River | Clarno to Cottonwood

Post author:Occidental
Post published:2025-06-29
Post category:2025 River
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Our trip started at Clarno where we departed on a 6 day trip down 70 miles of the John Day River. The deserted boat ramp at the put in was a good sign. River trips normally start with a lot of chaos as people who seemingly have no clue that the boat ramp is for rigging your raft and then moving out of peoples way mill around eating breakfast and watching their kids splash in the water. Having absolutely nobody at the boat ramp never happens. Until this trip. We received a peace and quiet bonus by getting to the ramp early, and we shoved off to the sounds of blackbirds instead of screaming kids. It’s going to be a great trip!

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Down The Wild Owyhee, 2024

Post author:Occidental
Post published:2024-06-09
Post category:2024 River
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Flows were looking good in mid May, which isn’t always the case on a river as fickle as the Owyhee. Snowpack was good over the winter, and flows were slowly declining to what would be ideal for a trip, 2700 CFS. We packed our bags, hooked up the raft and headed to southeast Oregon for our second trip on the Wild Owyhee.

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John Day River, 2022

Post author:Occidental
Post published:2022-06-17
Post category:River
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Spring is always a nice time to hit the John Day River. Wildflowers are blooming, it greens up for a short period of time, and the blackbirds and geese fill the air. We launched at Service Creek and made our way to Clarno over the course of four days in May.

After a relatively dry winter, spring in Oregon has been pretty moist. This trip was no exception. Flows were pretty high, especially if you are interested in fishing. But the flowers were blooming and we had long stretches of the river to ourselves.

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