Tracing the Deschutes
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Tracing the Deschutes Benjamin A. Hayes Table ofTable Contents tography and Pho -All winter andspringof 2006and duringthe Catlin GabelSchool as part of aseniorprojectatthe BenHayes completedby was writing forthisproject with thehelpoffollowing wascompleted -This project 2007 unlessotherwisemarked. John Schubert John Bruce Ronning Yake Kolleen people andorgainizations- - Area Headwater the into -Skiing -Wickiup to Lake Billy Chinook Lake to -Wickiup Nadine Fiedler Kathryn and Art Leo, Shimmons, Claire Stewart andMollyHayes Peter, Pam, Institute Waters andThe Healthy Oregon Trout Council Watershed The UpperDeschutes Sterling John Moon Ben -Warm Springs to the Columbia the to Springs -Warm p. 5-16 p. p. 17-38 p. and manyothers Gabel School Catlin The morning mist near Sunriver. morning Sunriver. near mist Re Photo- Cover f ected trees in early inearly trees ected p. 39-55 p. 2 A late evening riff e on the Deschutes upstream of Tumalo. 2 A late evening riff e on the Deschutes upstream of Tumalo. isincrediblyimportant which tocentral Oregon and needshelp. River and protectthe Deschutes This peopletocarefor willhopefullyinspireyoung andeducation centeredontheDeschutes. aims tocreateexcitement thattheyexist.Myproject careaboutplacestheyneedtoknow people caringabouttheplaces thatsurround them.To project will approach thegoalproject willapproach of futurereliesonyoung Apositive protectingwildand beautifulplacesonestep atime. The goal of My resource. for aspecialareaandprotectpreciousenvironmental thisprojectistocreateawareness hundredand fiftyoddmiles. thathasaccompaniedmeforthelasttwo minglewiththewater where theColumbiaRiver nook, Isetoff in ofWarm justdownstream Springs, From couldfind. we BillyChi forallthewaterfalls Lake spentsearching ing aday BillyChinook, includ fromBendtoLake headedforBend.Ivisitedselectareasalongtheriver mountainbike, out onmy Project Summary Reservoir. In March I began canoeing along the Deschutes starting at Wickiup and ending at Benham Falls. In May Iset InMay Ibegan starting and endingatBenhamFalls. InMarch canoeingalongtheDeschutes atWickiup Reservoir. theretheriver From toSparksLake. thewater following there I skieddownhill, From drainage. ber of areatofindsomeof 2006,skiingintotheheadwaters thehighestdrops water of lumbia under my own power over thecourseof over power own lumbia undermy thewinterandspringof 2006and2007.Ibegan inDecem f oating the river in a drift boat and a canoe. After a shuttle around Sherars Falls I AfterashuttlearoundSherars Falls inadriftboatandcanoe. oating theriver River from its headwater near the Three Sisters, toitscon neartheThree fromitsheadwater Sisters, River the finalproductof having tracedtheDeschutes f owing into the Deschutes River River intotheDeschutes owing f ows south, to Wickiup south,toWickiup ows f f -Ben Hayes oated right down to oated rightdown uence withtheCo This publicationis - 3 - - - A willow lined river bank upstream of Benham Falls. The Route 4 -The Deschutes -Section 1 River Watershed -Section 2 -Section 3 4 Section 1- Skiing into the Headwater Area 5 The rim of Broken Top crater bathed in late evening alpenglow. Day 1- Dec. 19 2006- Broken Top Cra- Crater ter where we I lie in my sleeping bag, along set up camp. The snow with two boots, two water bottles, is amazing; light and fuffy with glit- my camera, some socks, my insoles, and a tery surface-hoar, a leaf-like ice formation on whole bunch of warm, fuzzy, clothing. I don’t top of the snow. The weather complimented the wonderful think I could fit a single extra item into this bag. The snow with clear sunny skies, very cold temperatures, and struggle to stay warm in winter becomes bitterly apparent as crisp, dry, air. The sunset put the final touches on the day I pull my hat down further over my ears and cinch the top as we skied down a beautiful slope high in the crater with of my sleeping bag so that just my eyes and nose poke out incredible snow. It felt wonderful to arc turns through the into the crisp, cold, midwinter air. perfect snow, with the crystals thrown in the air turning a Today we skied from Dutchmans Flat to Broken Top Skiing into the Headwater Area 6 gold color with the sunset. Alpenglow bathed Ball Butte and the very top of Broken Top with pinkish light, perfect for pictures. The conditions up here are good enough that I could quite happily spend a couple of days just exploring the crater and skiing run after run. Tomorrow we will begin the actual tracing of the Deschutes, following water downhill from here to Sparks Lake. The snow that I sleep next to tonight, will melt with the spring sunshine, and fow down hill towards the headwaters of the Deschutes. For now I am going to focus on staying warm and falling asleep without rolling over onto my camera. Telemark skiing down Broken Top Crater. 6 Skiing into the Headwater Ar Skiing intotheHeadwater Today we left our camp in Broken Top Crater afteraminorboutof began Top leftourcampinBroken We we foodpoisoningandskiedtoSparksLake. Today theground onacampstove. whileIcookmacaroniandcheese covering snow into thebottomof Itseemsoddtobesittingnexta thesnow. I canhearthecreekgurglingpastourtent.Insomeplacesw We still haven’t reached the official headwaters of the Deschutes River, however we are solidly within the watershed now. now. watershed weare solidlywithinthe of theofficialheadwaters reached however River, stillhaven’t theDeschutes We sound sleeping lastnight. for dessert, thenoff tobed.Imanaged toget compensatingforlessthan inalongnapthisafternoon arrived, oncewe broughtsomeextra chocolate even oneof eatingmacaroniandcheese, We dinnerwe’re For ourbackcountry favorites. notcertain. thisafternoon thoughwe’re even seen awolverine have may thoughtwe fact we asifseeds lendingahigh-contrastperspective, of abunch In paws. ranaroundonawhitecarpet withmuddy wolverines quility of of There anincrediblenumber were SparksLake. up high,manyof animaltracks themfilledwithwindblown thedrainage untilrushing Creekthenfollowing downhill settledintothetran waters cuttingacrossthecraterto Fall by roni, enjoy acup ofroni, enjoy andtry warm hot chocolate, tostay inawinter environment. Iwillstirthe maca now For FlatSnow-park. totheDutchmans andback upCenturyour campnear SparksLake Drive The of forecast isforafewinches morning willskifrom we Tomorrow lightening upinthemorning. overnight, snow fardownstream. re-enteringtheDeschutes eventually of Much the Deschutes. actually thishighinthewatershed the water every preciouslittledropof if moisturethatfalls heredoeseventually, notevaporated, The water Day 2-Dec.202006-SparksLake f owing past our tent will take monthsif pastourtentwilltake owing however the Columbia throughtheDeschutes, notyearstoreach ea ater f owing streaminthemiddleofowing winterwithsixfeetof f f ows under ice covered banks, cuttingaperfectline banks, undericecovered ows ows underground, re-filling the water table, and underground,water table, ows re-fillingthe f ow through somesectionofow 7 - - Animal tracks along the ski trail from Dutchman’s Flat. Skiing into the Headwater Area 8 Where does the water come from? The Deschutes River historically retains an abnormally . steady flow year e k a round because of L s the large percent- k r a age of the flow p S coming from ground- s d r water. The three contributing a w o factors that create this steady t n flow are the large vertical and w o lateral scale of the groundwater, d g the highly permeable surface n i w leading to high a re-charge rate, o fl and the high storage capacity of k e e the water table.* r C Geology plays a huge l l a role in this groundwater fed F river, mostly being dominated by a layer cake of various lava flows. The younger flows on the surface create an exception- ally permeable layer between 100 and 500 meters deep.* Groundwater is primarily discharged naturally at two points along the Deschutes River. Mountain streams in the high Cascades carry a portion of the flow, 8 Skiing into the Headwater Area 9 and the region near the confluence of the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers carries another large portion of the flow.* Also many tributaries, such as the Metolius are almost completely spring fed. Ninety one percent of the flow in the Deschutes River at near Madras originates as groundwater, and eighty percent of the water in the Deschutes at its confluence with the Columbia comes from groundwater. Half of the groundwater flowing into the Deschutes River comes from an area within sixteen kilometers of the confluence of the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers.* Below this area the river flows over rock from the John Day formation that has a much lower permeability, allowing less groundwater to enter the river.† The water table is recharged primarily from precipitation falling high in the Cascades and water leaking out of irrigation canals through fractured basaltic lava. The flows of the groundwater range from just below the surface to thousands of feet deep and vary hugely in their flows depending on depth. The shallow flows follow -gen eral geographic lines while deep flows are more direct and find fewer opportunities to drain into the river. Clouds cover S. Sister Skiing into the Headwater Area Day 3- Dec. 21 2006- Wickiup Reservoir The warm wood stove of my family’s house in Tumalo heats my feet and dries the multitudes of wet clothing that hang over the furniture. The first backcountry adventure of my tracing of the Deschutes River from its headwaters to the Columbia has come to an end. We began this morning shaking three or four inches of snow off of our tent. Opening the