Lower John Day, 2017

Well, a three day turnaround between the Owyhee  and the North Fork John Day river trips was pretty luxurious for prep time so we shortened it down to one day back home before we were headed to our third river in three weeks, the lower John Day.  The Clarno to Cottonwood float is about 70 miles and you can’t have any appreciation for the country you float through unless you see it from the water.

 

Departure from Clarno

 

You start out in some pretty, well, lets just say, agricultural, country.  Country infested with noxious weeds, showing lots of signs of erosion, plenty of cows eating down the riparian area and broken down abandoned equipment.

 

If you enjoy this view, thank agriculture

 

Abandoned Barn, knapweed riparian area

 

But before the end of the first day you start to get away from all that and you float into paradise for the next 4 days.

 

Golden Eagle enjoying dinner

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Glass Buttes, 2017

Winter has had a persistent hold on the coming of spring but there comes a point when you just need to get out, so we headed east for a weekend and landed at Glass Buttes.  It’s not too hard to tell how the buttes got their name, there is literally obsidian just about everywhere.

The glass of Glass Buttes

We picked a somewhat random spot upon arrival and went for a cross-country walk.  There’s enough glass scattered across the ground to keep a person looking down almost the entire time.

Wandering Glass Buttes

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