Summer Adventure Circuit with Jess - Day 3: Rafting the Deschutes Day Run - Harpham Flats to Sandy Beach

We had a lovely cup of tea in the Ram's Head restaurant of the lodge to start the day. We then headed down the mountain to Government Camp (Govy Camp) to pick up some food. It is a cute little spot with a lot going on and was originally where the laborers who constructed the Lodge lived. 

We drove an hour southeast to the small rafting base town of Maupin and then headed upriver to the put in at Harpham Flats - stopping to scout Boxcar and Wapanitia rapids on our way. It was a hot morning to set up the raft, but we got it done and launched without incident. It was 96F today and we were happy to be on the oasis of river in the desert on such a hot day. We navigated Wapanitia Rapid and Boxcar Rapid and then floated towards Maupin while eating our picnic lunch. Maupin City Park looked like a nice, well treed and shaded spot to stop, but we passed it by and continued on. 

After about an hour we came to our next stretch of rapids - Elevator (wave train) followed by Oak Springs. Oak Springs has a few challenging moves and with the water at this level, there is a risk of being stuck on some basalt lava rock in the middle of the rapids - definitely  something that needs to be avoided. Scouting the rapid from the right bank was worth the time and we also got to watch a few other boats go down, including one that ran river right, hit the big wave at the ledge and dumped 4-6 of its paddlers out. It was a mess. But everyone ended up making it through okay in the end even if a couple had some rough swims where they were getting recirculated back into the hole. Scouting gave Jess and I the info we needed and we picked our right - starting river left and then running center channel and going over a ledge at the end, then heading left again for the run out. We paddled our way through according to plan and had an exhilarating run with no one falling out! Yay! The rest of the river was fun but uneventful and our car was waiting for us at the take out (always a blessing when a reliable shuttle happens)! We drove another two hours south to Bend and have set up here for the rest of the trip to do some hiking in the area. What an awesome vacation so far!