Finally had the chance to load up the kids and head out for the weekend! My wife was out of town for meetings, so the kids, dog, and I figured we needed a little tent time.

I had hoped to head for Idaho, but the weather was looking dismal, and I figured we would be lucky to get over the mountains to eastern Oregon. We were wheels up about 6pm Friday evening and made our way under/around/over clouds and precip to Redmond, then north down the John Day river. The snow showers and rainbows in the distance made for a spectacular flight, although a little cold! Good thing I had just switched the fresh air/heat hoses in the cowling and had copious amounts of O-540 produced heat pumping into the cabin! Ah, spring in Oregon.

The arrival into chukar was uneventful, although the wind was still blowing some in the canyon. We set up the tent, got some ramen noodles cooking and ate dinner in our sleeping bags. Everybody conked out dreaming of small mouth bass.........

Saturday morning we awoke to the sound of light rain intermittently but slightly warmer temps. We hoped the weather would improve as we were expecting a few friends to join us if they could get there. By mid morning, we jumped in the Maule and took a little hop out of the canyon to get some cell service to check in. To our disappointment, we found out via text that the weather on the west side of the Cascades was worse than forecast and that they would not be able to join us. We dropped back into the canyon and decided to do some fishing.

Beckett caught the first of many small mouth to come


The low clouds keeping the crowds away.


After lunch, we decided to tackle the ridge behind camp and see how far up we could hike. Maddie took this picture when we got back to show where we hiked to.


Flowers on the way up



The viewpoint



Silas was enjoying the wild


The weather was improving, and we started to wonder if we would get any visitors?


Just before dark, we heard the faint sound of a Rotax.........My Dad had left Friday evening, about an hour after us and the weather was poor enough that he had stopped in Roseburg and spent the night with my sister. Saturday, he flew up the I5 corridor to the gorge, then east and found us on the John Day.


Sunday, the weather was nice on the east side of the mountains


The infamous windsock tree through the eyes of a seven year old......


Treasures that 4 and 7 year olds find at chukar flats.......they begged and pleaded to haul every last thing they found home......including about 200 spent rounds of .22 ammo!


The trip home was the same as the trip there, under/around/over clouds and precip all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It was good to be in the backcountry again!

Thanks for the report.

I can't think of a better way to spend time with the kids. They, and you, will have memories of this and this type of family activity all their lives.
When I hear my daughter telling our grand kids about the good times she and her brother had when we flew places, camped and spent time together, the memories flood back for me as well.

Thanks for the reminder

Hawk

Awesome TR, Brent!

Wish we could've made it. Next time!

Well done Brent. I love that place.

CW

Good report Brent. Remember, when you go there and it is hot, watch out for Rattlers!

Cheers...Rob

Hawk wrote:Thanks for the report.

I can't think of a better way to spend time with the kids. They, and you, will have memories of this and this type of family activity all their lives.
When I hear my daughter telling our grand kids about the good times she and her brother had when we flew places, camped and spent time together, the memories flood back for me as well.

Thanks for the reminder

Hawk

Ya, I feel really blessed to be able to do these things with my kids!

Oregon180 wrote:Awesome TR, Brent!
Wish we could've made it. Next time!

Maddie and Beckett were super bummed they didn't get to hang out with Sixten.......they brought their rubber boots for the gold panning. Next time for sure. Was the right decision weather wise.

clippwagon wrote:Well done Brent. I love that place.

CW

Thanks CW.....need to connect with you. I forget you are over that way.

OregonMaule wrote:Good report Brent. Remember, when you go there and it is hot, watch out for Rattlers!

Cheers...Rob

Thanks Rob, we sent the dog out in front, not that he would help much and really kept an eye out. I think it was to cold, but I sure didn't want to find out the hard way.

Looks like a ton of fun Brent! Sorry I couldn't make it out to meet you. My ride will be back in the air by Thursday. Going up to the San Juan Islands and then in to BC for a little adventuring 5-1 through 5-9 if you have the urge to get out again.

We were there just yesterday! Sorry we missed you. Spent some time fishing and hiked up the river, then floated it back down to the strip.

Hiking up the River...went as far as we could, floated across, then hiked up some more.


Floating back down. About an hours hike up and an hour float back down. Not a bad return.

Scott, sorry we missed you guys, that looks like a lot of fun! We need to get together and shuttle with the airplanes! Should be some nice gravel bars to land on up or down river to be able to cover some water.

Nice TR Brent, that's a great spot. We probably would have flown out there sometime in the last week from Vancouver but I put the small tires and cruise prop on for the trip. Not the best for short and rough strips, but the extra 20mph was nice.

Great trip report, that is some beautiful country. Great memories with your kids and it would seem your father thinks exactly like you do.

What type of kayaks are those? Would be great to have a light, packable boat.

highroad wrote:Scott, sorry we missed you guys, that looks like a lot of fun! We need to get together and shuttle with the airplanes! Should be some nice gravel bars to land on up or down river to be able to cover some water.

That's the plan! The rafts we have are Alpacas. Of course we're no where near this radical, but they're very capable little rafts.

highroad wrote:Scott, sorry we missed you guys, that looks like a lot of fun! We need to get together and shuttle with the airplanes! Should be some nice gravel bars to land on up or down river to be able to cover some water.

I mapped several spots out that look good for landing, and tried to coordinate a plane shuttle kayak/fishing trip in November, but it didn't come together between schedules and weather. I landed one of the bars in December. It's a great spot to take out. Between Chuckar and said bar is about 15 river miles. Perhaps we should put this on the schedule for June or July?

highroad wrote: ...Treasures that 4 and 7 year olds find at chukar flats.......they begged and pleaded to haul every last thing they found home......including about 200 spent rounds of .22 ammo!

Don't know about that wire or the .22 empties, but the iron ring and horseshoe are kinda cool. The shed antler is definitely a keeper!

Scolopax wrote:

highroad wrote:Scott, sorry we missed you guys, that looks like a lot of fun! We need to get together and shuttle with the airplanes! Should be some nice gravel bars to land on up or down river to be able to cover some water.

I mapped several spots out that look good for landing, and tried to coordinate a plane shuttle kayak/fishing trip in November, but it didn't come together between schedules and weather. I landed one of the bars in December. It's a great spot to take out. Between Chuckar and said bar is about 15 river miles. Perhaps we should put this on the schedule for June or July?

How late is the river still runnable water level wise?
I'd love to do a trip.....looking at an inflatable SUP as I type!

highroad wrote:

Scolopax wrote:

highroad wrote:Scott, sorry we missed you guys, that looks like a lot of fun! We need to get together and shuttle with the airplanes! Should be some nice gravel bars to land on up or down river to be able to cover some water.

I mapped several spots out that look good for landing, and tried to coordinate a plane shuttle kayak/fishing trip in November, but it didn't come together between schedules and weather. I landed one of the bars in December. It's a great spot to take out. Between Chuckar and said bar is about 15 river miles. Perhaps we should put this on the schedule for June or July?

How late is the river still runnable water level wise?
I'd love to do a trip.....looking at an inflatable SUP as I type!

The flows typically get pretty low around June, which is when the floating season ends. I think it would still be OK for a day trip in an IK or on a SUP, just not good for a loaded raft or a canoe.