July 27, 2024

A Kayakers Perspective on Canoeing The John Day

Trip Report by E Emch

In mid-June, I went on my first planned five day trip on the John Day River: Clarno to Cottonwood; a 70ish mile section. I also decided to add another first: doing the run in a canoe. I have been canoeing off and on for the past eight years or so, but only on flat water, and I wouldn’t call myself an expert at canoeing. I have more experience in a kayak on both flat water and whitewater, so read along as I go for my first multi day canoe trip on the John Day.

Our crew of five: Chloe, Carson, Peter, Bernhard, and myself, met up at Cottonwood Take Out to set up a shuttle and figure out food, gear, and boats. It was windy, so we asked a rafter exiting the water what it was like to which he replied “It’s like being on a treadmill. It kicked my butt and I’m happy to be done.” After that, we made a plan for shuttling and drove to Clarno– an hour or so away. Only Bernhard had done this section of John Day before, so he took out a map and gave us the plan for the day: Chloe and Carson in kayaks, himself and Peter in a tandem canoe and myself in a solo canoe. I didn’t pack anything extra heavy or bring luxurious items to fill up all the extra space that comes with a canoe and instead opted for larger float bags and packs as if I were in a kayak. Packing the canoe was easy, throwing my dry bags in, latching them together in the boat, and making sure my float bags were attached properly. We got everything packed into the boats, ate some lunch, got on the water and said goodbye to our cars as we started the first leg of our journey.

After a couple miles, we made it to Clarno Rapid, where we got out and scouted the first of two named rapids on the trip. We figured out the lines we wanted and since most of us were in solo crafts our decisions were quick. Peter and Bernhard took a little longer, discussing how to tackle the rapid as a team. We all decided on the same line, river left, threading the needle in between a couple rocks and then left of a big rock sticking out in the middle of the rapid. Chloe and Carson went first in their kayaks and set up safety if a canoe were to flip. Then Peter and Bernhard went through in their tandem, followed by myself in the solo canoe. We all made it through without tipping and celebrated with a few hips and yips!

After Clarnos’ first main rapid came the boulder garden section, a fun long rapid with a couple of different choices for lines. We all decided that it was read and run, so we didn’t stop to scout anymore. At the bottom of the first section of the boulder garden with a big splash through a wave and hitting a rock, Peter and Bernhard’s canoe became full of water, knocking Peter overboard. Surprisingly Bernhard stayed in the boat. They recovered quickly and worked together to get the water out using Chloe’s bilge pump. For me, and the lines I picked, I went through some splashing waves, and I got a little shoot, which made it click for me: Canoes are FUN! Especially in whitewater! Even though they’re harder to maneuver and a bit slower compared to a kayak, I enjoyed the challenge. There was even a point in the boulder garden where I sparred a rock going through a rapid that could have been avoidable in a kayak, but I was able to shake it off and continue paddling.

The rest of the day we battled a strong headwind and enjoyed when we had small rapids or when the wind would die down to make our journey a bit more pleasant. Putting in about 10 miles (the farthest I had ever gone in a canoe) we made it to our first campsite around River Mile 97. After setting up camp, we talked about boats, paddling, food, and our day on the water. Conversation was short and sweet as we were tired and went into our tents early to prepare for the next day.

On day two, we had a slow start as we were still a bit tired and didn’t get on water until 10 am instead of the planned 9 am. We had hoped an earlier start would help us beat the afternoon winds, but luckily the winds were not as strong as the day before, so our late start didn’t make much of a difference. We got into boats and paddled for a bit, until we got to the second of the named rapids: the Basalt Rapids. We were initially worried about running the Basalt Rapids, but they weren’t as worrisome as we thought. We all made it through with no flips or swims as we marveled at the giant rock walls next to us and the massive rocks sticking out of the water. We also passed a couple of groups of rafters and talked with them about their trips. One of the groups had a water gun and splashed us a bit and coincidentally it was a group renting a raft through Alder Creek. They were happy to be on the river without needing to buy a whole other raft.

In the afternoon, we stopped for lunch and talked a little about the plan for the rest of the day. We decided to cover a bit more distance rather than stop early to make up camp. We pushed forward and paddled a bit more to make the next few days easier. Around 3 pm, we found our campsite for the night and set up camp. We rested, talked, and took naps before eating some food. Peter brought a fishing pole, so he went off to fish, catching a couple of fish, and then releasing them back into the water. After eating dinner, we all started talking about river safety, and Bernhard and I demonstrated how to set up a Z-drag to Chloe and Carson on a couple of trees. This quickly turned into talks about favorite knots and rope combinations and continued until dark.

On the third day, we had a slow start again, but once we got a bit of momentum with packing, we got on the water quickly. There was a headwind again today that made progress a bit slower, but we were able to keep a decent pace. We played a bit of leapfrog with the rafters: they would stop, we would pass them, then we would stop, and they would pass us. After about 10 miles, we stopped for lunch and decided that we should keep pushing to get a few more miles in before stopping for the day. We got to camp after about 15 miles, meaning we have gone almost 50 miles in three days. We wandered the campsite to find shade and a nice place to rest. Chloe and Carson opted to stay near the water on the cobblestone beach, Peter went wading and fishing and Bernhard and I decided it was time for a nice little nap under some trees. After that, we all huddled in some shade by the river and talked for hours, sharing favorite camp meals and watching the birds fly overhead. We all slowly turned in for the night and I listened to the crickets and stared at the stars for a while before falling asleep.

In the morning, we decided to cover about 10 miles to split the last two days into two easy days and eat lunch at our new campsite. Shortly after getting on the water, we passed a few rafts and some drift boaters, and then we didn’t see anyone else on the water for the rest of the day. The day came with another head wind, but it wasn’t too bad until the gusts started up, blowing around my canoe quite a bit as I paddled. As I paddled into the wind, at points I wished I had brought a kayak for the trip as both canoes would get blown sideways with every gust. I started getting jealous of how little the kayakers had to work. But even though I was a bit envious, I made sure to not have any hard feelings for my two bladed companion.

At around 11 am, we started looking for camp, but every camp site either wasn’t shady, flat, or it was a steep hike up. So campsite after campsite and we couldn’t find one that worked for us. Around 1 pm, we finally decided to stop for lunch and took a closer look at the map, realizing that we were about 6 miles from the takeout. So we decided to push on and go all the way to the takeout and shorten our trip by one night. After a long day of paddling, we got to Cottonwood and pulled our boats out of the water. We changed into dryer clothes and got ready to make the shuttle drive. Bernhard left from Clarno after dropping Carson and I off, as we drove back to Cottonwood we had a deer run out in front of Carsons vehicle which didn’t cause any delays but did get our hearts racing again. After getting back to Cottonwood we packed gear into and onto the cars, and said our byes and started heading home with a quick stop to drop off garbage at the end of the parking lot.

After a couple of weeks of reflection, I have one word to describe this trip: AMAZING! Even with headwinds and being in a canoe, I wouldn’t change a thing. Special thanks to Bernhard for getting the permit and having the sense to bring along a map.

If you are a kayaker and haven’t tried canoeing I would highly suggest it. Further, if you haven’t done the John Day River, you’re missing out! It has some of the best scenery, campsites and amazing sunsets I have ever seen. So grab a couple friends, and make some paddling memories you won’t soon forget.