Today I talked with Dave Steele, the Owyhee river ranger for the Vale BLM district in Oregon. He's a canoeist and driftboat runner. He told me about a new reg this year on the lower O.--no burning the wood that is there. This really isn't a big deal, as there is not any wood there to burn anyway. We should bring some duraflames, charcoal, and whatever else we want if we intend to have fires. Lanterns would work as fire replacements, too.
The river is low now, as usual. Dave thinks our planned launch date is spot-on, as he expects an early runoff this year. There's precip in the forecast, and the snowpack in the Owyhee watershed is about 84% of average right now.
Dave also suggested that we plan on takeout at Leslie gulch rather than Birch Creek. I agree--the Birch Creek road is heinous--only for 4WD and even like that with high clearance. If it rains, a tank would have trouble getting out. Leslie means that we have an extra day, but this is a river trip, right? Takeout shouldn't be the most dangerous part of the trip.
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Does this mean we don't need 4wd?
ReplyDeleteHey, Birdman. Who are you? Email me or give a call.
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