The Owyhee River Journals
Book Details
Author: Bonnie J. Olin
Book Size: 9.5″ W X 8″ H
Style: Softcover – Full Color
Pages: 170
Retail Price: $35.00 (free media mail shipping within the U.S.A.)
An Excerpt
One would wonder why we would choose to call this recreation when reading about the difficulties of a major portage, the hours of physical effort exerted to just get ten miles downstream, and all the physical discomforts of being exposed to the elements 24 hours a day. But the beauty and grandeur of these canyons are beyond my ability to describe them and the physical effort and endurance required to see them is the price of admission. They are one of America’s last best places. Access sites are few and the condition of some roads impassable. There are no concession stands at the overlooks, no signs to point the way, no hotels in nearby cities, in fact no towns at all. No one has dynamited the natural blockages to make a passage way for the tourists and rafters like ourselves.
The only dams on the Owyhee and its tributaries in the main canyons are nature’s dams, with the exception of one dam near the confluence with the Snake River. You are highly unlikely to see another person in the six to ten days you are in the canyons; and if you are ill or injured, the way out presents an even greater challenge and is not without considerable risk. It is for all these reasons we are here, and it is a deeply personal experience. We could hardly compare ourselves with the early explorers and pioneers, not with our hi-tech gear and some advanced knowledge of what lay ahead. They had none of this. But it’s an opportunity for inner reflection, for observing all of nature’s delights, and for testing our abilities both physically and emotionally in an isolated environment. One must be very self sufficient here. It is a deeply rewarding journey.
