Trip Report: Deschutes River
--When, Where, Conditions--
When: April 11 - April 14
Location: Deschutes River
Conditions: Sunny with on and off cloud coverage, a large chance of ticks, and wind to steal your hat away.
Duration: Buck Hollow Put-in to Heritage Landing at the Columbia Gorge 45 mile trip
--Helpful Info--
Difficulty: Class III rapids - fun and splashy, read and run!
Kid Friendly? Yep
Pet Friendly? Yep
The Report: The Deschutes is a popular river during the summer for people near the Portland area. However in April, we didn't see one single person. The river was high enough from this season's weather conditions and now is a perfect time to avoid the crowds. The trip can be done in a much shorter time period, but without the traffic camps are plentiful.
Heads up! There truly are many snakes along the Deschutes. Snake box camp had many snakes as well as an infestation of Ticks. Both myself and my partner pulled at least 5 ticks off of each other and we found over 60 ticks on our dog (no joke!) once we pushed off shore and were on the water. We got to see a few Bald Eagles, Osprey, and deer along the river, as well as get a bit of fishing in. Wildflowers are starting to pop up along the hills in places too.