Owyhee Adventure ‘17
Route & Itinerary
The following is the loose itinerary planned for our upcoming adventure.
D1 | S 07: Pdx > Rome Station > Iron Point Overlook
The goal would be to reach camp a couple hours before sunset as we are camping on a cliff overlooking the Owyhee River as it flows through Green Dragon Gorge, past Iron Point and into the S end of the Owyhee Reservoir. This means a long day of driving. We will be leaving Portland at 6am.
Remember, we will be not back to a fuel station until Monday at Jordan Valley. Fill diesel Crane Store; fill gas at Rome Station
Total daily mileage: 422 miles; mileage after last diesel at Crane Store: 109; mileage after last (slow) gas at Rome Station: 34. Adding 40 miles each day of driving on Sunday and Monday to Jordan Valley means that we will be traveling 190 diesel / 83 gas miles between fuel stations. This shouldn’t be a problem. I’m not planning on filling my jerry cans until our second stop in Jordan Valley on Tues.
D2 | S 08: IPO > Crater Lake > Coffeepot Crater > Birch Creek Ranch
40 miles / 2 hrs drive time.
Sunday will be a fun day. We will have a lazy morning and then drive out to The Tongue as we get the day started. We will visit Crater Lake and drive up onto a lava flow, visit Coffeepot Crater and go for an hour hike around and down into the crater itself. On the way down into Birch Creek Ranch, we will take a quick out and back to an overlook. We will camp along the river at BCR. I am bringing an inflatable SUP. I encourage others to do the same (rigid kayaks and canoes are welcome but consider the long miles with your gear up on the roof against the actual amount of time in use) or bring your fishing gear.
D3 | M 09: BCR > Jordan Valley > Silver City, ID
64 miles / 3 hrs drive time.
Monday will start relatively early. The plan is to get over to Jordan Valley (30 miles gravel / 8 miles highway) in around 3 hours. This is including time for the slow climb out of BCR, photo ops, and airing up when we hit pavement. After refueling in JV, we will climb up to the historical mining town of Silver City, Idaho. The plan is to explore Silver City and find a hike in the aspens to enjoy. We will camp just N of Silver City above 8000'. Hopefully, we will be allowed a campfire here.
D4 | T 10: Silver City > Three Forks
65 miles / 3.25 hrs drive time.
Tuesday we will drop back down to Jordan Valley to refuel (more on this below) and then head back off pavement to drop into Three Forks. We will spend the day playing in the river and soaking at the Three Forks Hot Springs.
I’m planning on using the paddleboard here as well. I’m hoping there will be at least one other interested in floating the river and we can figure out a shuttle. MJ just spent three days at Three Forks and it sounds like he had some success at fishing.
A note on fuel: the mid-morning stop at Jordan Valley will be our last fuel stop for Two days until we reach McDermitt, NV. The mileages are as follows:
Tues: JV > 3Forks: 39 miles. Wed: 3F > Crutchers Crossing > 45 Ranch : 4hrs / 41 miles. > ION: 1:15 / 19 miles > Anderson Crossing 2hrs / 31 miles. Thurs: AC > McDerrmitt, NV 3 hrs / 42 miles. Total: 153 miles.
Fully loaded and puttering, I can’t imagine the gas vehicles doing better than 10mpg offroad, but we should all have close to a 200 mile range on a full tank. Having two jerry cans each will be plenty of insurance.
D5 | W 11: Three Forks > Crutcher’s Crossing > 45 Ranch
41 miles / 2.75 hrs drive time.
This is where we dive into the more remote section of the Owyhee Canyonlands. I haven’t been in here yet and have been itching to explore the SE side around to Anderson Crossing. We will have mandatory creek crossings at Crutcher’s Crossing and at 45 Ranch. 41 miles in 3 hours doesn’t seem like much of an effort, but I’ve heard there are plenty of rockgardens up on the plateau that will slow us to 5–10 mph, and then the drop into and the climb out of Crutcher’s is supposed to be a challenge. We’ll see how it goes. If we sail through, we can push on towards Anderson Crossing. A nice goal would be to compress the three days of Wed — Fri into two and buy a day for hiking in the Steens or make the return trip a two day affair instead of a one day slog.
The ranchers who own and maintain the 45 Ranch use planes to get in and out (much of the year, there’d really be not much of choice otherwise). Here’s a nice clip from one of them that gives you a feel for the area — 45 Ranch. Right at the end, you can get a good look at the river crossing that we’ll have to ford as the plane comes in for a landing.
D6 | R 12: 45 Ranch > Star Valley Ranch > 3 Corners > Anderson Crossing
50 miles / 3.5 hrs drive time.
More rugged, backcountry overland travel. We’ll start by climbing up and out from the 45 Ranch, passing through Star Valley Ranch, stopping for a photo-op at Three Corners (a land mark in “I-O-N Country”) and then pressing on for Anderson Crossing. At AC, we can choose to drop down to the bank of the West Little Owyhee River or look for a cliffside perch above it’s snaking canyon.
D7 | F 13: AC > McDermitt, NV > Disaster Peak Mine > Fields > Alvord
137 miles / 6hrs drive time.
We will drop into the Quinn River Canyon and pass through Devil’s Gate on our way through the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation. After we refuel in McDermitt, we will head W towards the Disaster Peak mine on our way to Fields (milkshakes!). After refilling tanks and bellies, we will head N to the Alvord Hot Springs for a soak and then make camp out on the playa.
Another note on fuel: the mid-afternoon stop at Fields will be our last fuel stop for Two days until we reach Burns. The mileages are as follows:
Fri: Fields > Alvord: 39 miles. ….+ ~20 miles goofing off around the playa
Sat: Alvord > Stonehouse > Kiger Mustang > Diamond > Steens : 102 miles / 5.5 hours drive time.
Sun: Jackman CG > Frenchglen > Burns: 107 miles / 2:45 drive time.
Total: 268 miles ( please refill jerry cans at Fields)
D8 | S 14: Alvord > StoneHouse Creek > Mustang Viewpoint > Diamond > Steens Summit > Jackman CG
95 miles | 5.25 hrs drive time.
A fun day of exploration on the back door into the Steens. We will head up Stone House Creek and into the patchwork of BLM and private ranch land, working our way towards the Kiger Mustang Viewing Area (hopefully, we’ll get a chance to see a herd). Then we’ll work our way towards Diamond and then climb up a new route to the Steens Summit. We will spend some time at the summit and the different overlooks. If time allows, we will hike down to the lake just below the summit. I have a plan for a secret camp spot, but I’m unsure of it’s capacity. Jackman CG will be our backup plan.
D9 | S 15: Jackman > Frenchglen > Burns > Prineville > PDX
The long grind home. Depending on departure time, we can take the Steens Loop Rd S to see the other Steens Gorges (adds 30 miles and 1 hr drive time.) Once we hit pavement, we will air up and begin the long road home.
