Go see the North Fork Championship, plus a high country condition report

A kayaker cuts hard-left to go around the gate behind the rock near the top of Jake's. (Courtesy Canoe/Kayak) 

Hi all,

Many of the best kayakers from around the world are coming to Idaho this week to compete in the North Fork Championship on the mighty North Fork of the Payette River. KTVB-TV reported that 180 athletes from 18 countries will compete for the $5,000 top prize.

I highly recommend that you go watch the main event on Saturday! It starts at 1 p.m. on Jacob's Ladder, one of the most challenging sections of gnarly Class 5 whitewater in North America. These paddlers will be not only surviving the churning whitewater, but also running gates in the middle of Jake's, and that's when things can get interesting!

Take a look:



(Video courtesy Outside mag)

Jacob's Ladder is located about half-way from Banks to Smith's Ferry on one of those rare places in the north-bound lanes where there's a passing lane on a long uphill. That's the spot! Find a place to pull over on the shoulder, or bring a bike and find a better place to park and hang out when the race is over.

I find it totally invigorating just watching the expert kayakers trying to navigate the big and bold features on the North Fork at an incredibly fast speed. The whitewater is ferocious! It seems to eat people until they emerge on the other side of the wave or hole and keep on paddling. It's just totally impressive!

On Thursday night, June 13, they're showing a series of whitewater films at the Egyptian Theater. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. Raffle items will be given away from NRS, Immersion Research, Astral, Dagger Kayak, Werner paddles, GoPro's, and many others. I'm sure the footage will be amazing! 

Speaking of rivers, you might have noticed that river-boating season is upon us! Time to dust off the kayaks, rafts, SUPs, etc., and go paddling! 

The North Fork of the Payette River was running just under 3,000 cfs at Banks on Thursday, so the rapids on the Cabarton section of the North Fork would be really fun right now. There'd be plenty of current to SUP the North Fork from Cascade to Cabarton, and the South Fork and Main Payette are rocking as well! Now that it's getting hot, it's time to hit the rivers! The Salmon River was running 31,000 cfs at Whitebird on Thursday. That'd make for a big ride in Riggins! Here's a link to all Idaho river flows.  

Need info. on Payette River flat-water and whitewater trips? See my guide, Paddling the Payette, which has details descriptions and maps to 24 day trips on the Payette River. 
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Tuesday evening in Ponderosa State Park at the top of the Huckleberry Trail.

Osprey Point in Ponderosa State Park is my happy place, overlooking Payette Lake. 

High-country condition report: I spent a few days in McCall this week, and it's absolutely gorgeous in Long Valley right now, with tall green grass flowing in the breeze, flowers popping, and the snow receding in the mountain tops. 

I checked with the Boise, Payette and Sawtooth national forests to get an idea on snow level. I'm hearing snow levels are generally in the 7,000-8,000 range, but in the north slopes and shadows, it would be much lower than that.

• Low-elevation trails in the McCall area are all in great shape right now, and ripe for the plucking. This includes trails at Ponderosa State Park, Payette Rim Trail, Jug Mountain Ranch and Tamarack. The North Valley Trail is in perfect condition, too. 
• Brundage Mountain is opening this weekend. There's too much snow at the summit to allow top-to-bottom mountain biking. People will be able to ride both directions on bike trails from the base area, in the meantime. There's a Father's Day Brunch on Sunday. See web site for details. 
• Some tidbits from the Sawtooth NRA: 
• Alice Lake-Toxaway Loop is snowed in. 
• 4th of July Trailhead is snowed in. 
• Iron Creek trail may be clear to Alpine Lake, but not Sawtooth. 
• You can't get to Bridal Veil Falls from Stanley Lake because of a high water creek crossing. 
• Mosquitoes are reportedly numerous. 

•  Tidbits from the Payette National Forest - The county plowed the road to Burgdorf, Secesh Meadows and Warren, so that should be open. Lick Creek Summit is still snow-bound. Most high lakes may be snow-bound. Little-used camp sites and campgrounds on the South Fork Salmon River are recommended ... they are lower-elevation.
• I didn't get any intel from the Boise National Forest, so you might check with a ranger district if you're heading that way. 

Steve talks about his weekly outdoor tip with Ken Bass and Deb Coursen Smith on 94.9 FM The River at approximately 7:40 a.m. on Fridays. 

Seize the day and plan a trip on the Owyhee River! You've got a little over a month to do it!

Wendy and Huck as we leave camp on Sunday morning ... the sun came out a few minutes later ... 

Now we can see some sunshine deep in the Owyhee River Canyon ... 

Caves to explore next to a potential camp site a few miles from the Birch Creek take-out

Hi all,

Spring is finally coming to SW Idaho after such a long winter ... and all of the luscious powder we enjoyed in the mountains is flowing down the mountains and into our favorite rivers. Last weekend, Wendy and I saw a decent weather window opening up last Friday-Sunday, so we seized the day and floated the lower Owyhee River, from Rome to Birch Creek, a 45-mile scenic trip just across the Idaho border in Eastern Oregon.

We had three rafts and six people. It's always cool to float with a small group when you're doing an impromptu trip. That makes the prep so much easier -- especially if you're going with experienced people who have all the necessary gear.

It's a 1.5- to 2-hour drive to the BLM put-in by the Owyhee River bridge on U.S. 95 in Rome. We stopped in Jordan Valley to buy 2017 invasive species permits at the hardware store. That was a smart move because an Oregon State Police officer was checking for them at the put-in ... didn't see anyone from the BLM.

We launched on a sunny day on Friday, with temperatures in the low 70s, and the river was running in excess of 6,000 cubic feet per second -- a sweet, fast flow. The Owyhee already has peaked this year in February, when it rocketed to 20,000+ cfs when we had that big warm up period, and rain on snow. That melted a lot of the low-elevation snow.

Last year, the Owyhee and the Bruneau rivers had a nice long season, but I was busy running off to my son's out-of-state hockey tournaments or work trips. So this year, I was not to be denied! And if you run the Owyhee in March, chances are you might be able to run it again in April or early May!

If you've always thought about running the Owyhee River, this is a great year to do so. The river may be peaking about now, according to the snow survey experts. The Mud Flat Snotel site has melted out, and more than 30 percent of the snow has melted from South Mountain -- those are the typical indicators when the river peaks, according to the experts. But the Owyhee should have boatable flows through April, and possibly early May, depending on how much more precipitation we get, how warm it gets and how fast the river runs off.

Why float the Owyhee? To see and experience the Owyhee Canyonlands, a vast landscape full of hidden caves, slot canyons, big canyons like the Owyhee River, spires, hoodoos and more. The scenery and geology are spectacular ... be sure to bring a book along like "Roadside Geology of Oregon," to learn about the volcanic episodes that dominated the Owyhee region for millions of years, plus the various basalt lava flows and rhyolite lava flows and outcroppings.

And bring your camera and video camera to document your trip.

For me, another key attraction is camping out on the river. It's so easy to haul all of that stuff on your boat, and you can camp in style with the big camp table, Dutch oven meals, lawn chairs, iced coolers full of your favorite drinks, and dry boxes to carry all of your dry goods.

I just love camp fire in the evening on a March river trip ... the regulations are to pack-in your own firewood.

The Rome-to-Birch Creek section is pretty friendly in terms of whitewater ... the rapids are mostly Class 2 and 3 on a scale of 1-6, with 6 being a steep waterfall. Because the river was moving so fast, and bank-full, we made great time on the water, traveling at least 5 mph without even trying to push downriver. With fast pushy water, however, you do need to anticipate your moves well in advance, and sneak the inside corners when you can see hazards on the outside corners when you're approaching rapids. Whistling Bird and Montgomery are typically the biggest rapids on the river, but at 6,000-7,000 cfs, Whistling Bird was super easy, and Montgomery was the typical pull to the right to avoid the wall and hole at the bottom.

The BLM has an excellent map booklet available that provides a mile-by-mile guide to the lower Owyhee River, as well as the other forks of the Owyhee and the Jarbidge-Bruneau. You can find the river map at the BLM State Office on Overland and Vinnell in Boise, or also at Idaho River Sports. I highly recommend it. The map marks all the rapids and the designated campsites.

If you don't have your own river gear, there are a number of outfitters that do Owyhee River trips, including Far & Away Adventures, Barker River Expeditions, Wilderness River Outfitters, and ROW Adventures. All of those outfitters are really solid and put on great trips! Be sure to get in touch and reserve a date before their trips fill up.

For vehicle shuttles, we used Eva Matteri, 541-586-2352. The cost was $160/vehicle. Well worth it!
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Notes: In case you missed the Facebook post earlier this week, my blog, Stueby's Outdoor Journal was selected as one of the Top 20 outdoor blogs in the Northwest by the Outdoor Authority. I thought you'd enjoy seeing some of the other blogs mentioned in the top list. They all sound really good. My friend Mike Lanza's The Big Outside always has quality content, featuring world-class trips and a lot of tips about outdoor gear.

Greenbelt underpass closures and flooding closures: If you're been looking for a comprehensive list of Greenbelt closures, the Statesman had a story in today's paper with the latest closures. The river is supposed to go up to 8,000 cfs today ...

Bogus and Brundage winding down: Brundage's last day of operation is Sunday, April 9th, with a pond-skimming event set for April 8th. The last day of operations at Bogus will be Sunday, April 16th. The last opportunity for night skiing is this Saturday. Nordic operations will close following this weekend as well.
- SS