may 9th, 2003

3 days, indian hot springs to indian bath tub, 800 cfs

jed, dan, kyle

margaritaville, paradise (our chosen names)

 

bruneau level may 9th, 10th & 11th 2003

 

may 9th at indian hot springs launch site. dan and kyle finish preps. the "b" is at 650 cfs and climbing. this is the first bruneau trip for us. the road in was terribly muddy. the weather is warm and changeable. we are stoked and my cat is going to be much heavier than i had hoped. this is my second river trip wherein i row my own craft.

 

looking downstream from the bruneau launch site.

 

camp margaritaville. we make up our own names here on the bruneau! dan looks like i caught him in the act, but i am not sure what i caught him doing. at least his pants were up ;)

 

when kyle tells you not to trust him with cooking.......trust him! soon the clam chowder was boiling over, but damn it still tasted great! margaritaville is somewhere on river right about 3 to 5 miles down. we launched around 5:00 pm and got here around 6:30 or 7:00 pm. who knows? who cares?

 

approaching the confluence with sheep creek. the peak at the top center is easily identifiable. the confluence is about a mile beyond it, but from here on the two rivers are less than a mile apart east to west. follow the saddle right to left from the center peak. At the top left of that saddle is where i took the next picture from.

 

a perspective photo. compared to the previous photo this one is down stream perhaps a 1/2 mile and taken from the top of the canyon. i took a motorcycle ride to jp point and this is as far north as the road goes towards jp point. the confluence of the bruneau and sheep creek is about a mile north of jp point. the peak in the center of the last photo is just out of view to the right of this photo. all in all when you are in the canyon you are seeing the best sights along the bruneau. the area along the top of the canyon is one long, flat sage brush step. the river in view here is sheep creek making it's way to the bruneau just around the noticeable pennisula in the center.

 

hey guys! that's the wrong way!!! dan and kyle attempt to avoid kitchen and toilet duty by paddling upstream on sheep creek as i float on down the "b"

 

kyle & dan emerge from cave rapid. getting through with my cat was much more difficult, but i made it. if you are buying all that then i have a bridge to sell you ;) actually this is just some cave along the river right wall at 800 cfs. they saw daylight while looking up. we are approaching the east fork i think.

 

finally a break to warm up. well ok i was not cold but the two children on this trip were cold. children? perhaps i should say kayakers! perhaps understandable that they are cold, especially since i am rowing all their gear down the damn river!!! i guess my cat weighed 800 pounds and it could have weighed 600 pounds instead, but we had....shall we say...issues....that left me with more gear than we needed. hey who cares? we made it down and had a great time!!!!!! here is to our first bruneau trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

paradise!!! a very welcoming camp just below miller water. a bit of poison ivy, but no worries if you know what it looks like. dan was talking about a sheep or a goat he once knew, but kyle and i failed to understand what he was talking about. we are certain he was just drunk.....or at least hoping he was ;)

 

this photo does not do justice to how muddy your truck can be after using it to shuttle a bruneau trip. we took out on river left just below indian bath tub. this hot springs at the take out is fantastic. if not trashed by the locals it is clear and just the right temp. i think we took out about a mile above the usual river right take out. the bruneau is worth another look or two!