Jarbidge River Trip

By Devon Barker. Learn more about Devon.

April 26, 2006

Photos

This past weekend I did another self-support on the Jarbidge Bruneau Canyonlands. They are in the desert close to the Owyhee Canyonlands and are very similar in character of the canyon walls and rapids. I have been focusing on river running this spring for the upcoming combination events in freestyle and creek races. With my Jackson Kayak Hero in hand I left school and headed to the put-in.

I taught high school health for two days in Cascade prior to my trip. I created a presentation on Jessie Stone’s Soft Power Health program www.softpowerhealth.org and shared the work Emily did with Jessie and with Soft Power Education. They are studying diseases and how they are spread. I was able to share a lot of footage from Uganda about health related problems with a little kayaking footage in between.

On my way to the put-in my allergies begun to flare up but I was so excited to run the Jarbidge as it had been ten years since my last trip that I did not pay enough attention. We ran 28 miles down to the confluence with the Bruneau without too many portages. At Sevy Falls we found a Cataraft stuck in the falls. Jamie Laidlaw, Canyons guide, paddled over and pulled it free with a throw rope, rowed it the rest of the way through the falls where we tied it up. There was no personal gear left on the boat and the cooler was empty. Hum???

Tracy Sage, Jamie Laidlaw, Megan Fitzmaurice and I continued down stream wondering if we might find a walker, an extra person in cataraft, but hopefully not a person floating in the water. The Maze rapid was challenging as you are winding around boulders with the anticipation that at any turn you need to make sure you get out to scout Jarbidge Falls. At one logjam we were able to limbo our way under it by letting go of our paddles and pushing our boats down into the water.

We arrived at Indian Creek Hot springs were we camped and took soaks in an old claw foot porcelain bathtub. I used my NRS collapsible bucket to bring coldwater from the river, as the springs are 140 degrees. Dan Norris, Jimmy Bryan, and other local ski patrollers and river guides were driving in to join us for the Bruneau section. At last, around 10:00 pm I saw their headlights crest over the canyon rim rock. They said they could see the welcome sight of our campfire for about an hour as they made the slow 4×4 crawl down to the water.

The Five Mile section of the Bruneau was consistent class IV rapids in near vertical canyon walls. We ran safety for the rafts and Jamie pushed us to take harder and harder lines. My bracing is getting much better as I did not go upside down once. EJ always says that you only need to roll when your brace fails. I have been keeping that in mind. I just cannot tell you how great the Hero is for a river running kayak and for a self-support boat. My allergies to sage and juniper became worse and by the last night on the river I could not sleep as my sinus were really painful and I had taken so many decongestants that I was buzzed. The benefit to not sleeping was being able to see the stars punctuating the canyon rim. On one hand I did not know what I ever did to be this lucky but on the other hand I was concerned that it was getting hard to breath and none of my allergy medicine was working.

The next morning I did find the group who lost the cataraft and this proved to be a good distraction from my allergies and a relief that no one was hurt. The owner is offering a reward to anyone who brings it out. I have his contact info if you are in for an adventure??? They are from New Mexico and when we got to the takeout they had a Cadillac for their takeout rig as they had hired a local farmer to take them to the put-in using his rig.

The last rapid is Wild Burro where the rafts go in pulling away from a steep drop feeding into a canyon wall and then a run out of holes and rocks. I ran the top and eddied out. All the rafts dialed the lines. We went just a little ways down to the take out hot springs where we all jumped into them in our gear. My NRS dry pants floated my legs to the surface and gave everyone a great laugh. I sure was dry!

We parted ways at the take-out. Everyone was content and happy for the great trip. I turned on the AC in the truck, as I just wanted filtered air. I began feeling better right away. So much better that when I got to Horseshoe Bend I stopped to see if the monstrous bladder wave was in. It was. I jumped from my Hero to my All Star for an evening surf. The pile has to be at least 15 high and is formed where the bladder dam folds when the water begin pouring over the top. Air and clean blunts are awesome here.

Upon getting out I knew my allergies were back. I climbed into the back of my truck for a restless sleep followed by an early morning drive to the clinic. My allergy attack had turned into a sinus infection. Rats, I have to stay out of the water for three days but I guess everything has its price.

Paddle in Peace- devo