The 2004 Season Outlook

River Forecast:  Deschutes |  White Salmon  | Clackamas  | Klickitat  |  Sandy Gorge     Owyhee  |  North Santiam  |  Wind 

As of Early March:  We are keeping our fingers crossed that heavy snows continue and looking forward to the 2004 season.  2004 should be a high water heaven with many rivers flowing above average and for longer periods.  What does this mean?  Big and fun rafting through much of the Spring and Summer months!  Most of Oregon & Washington's river basins are at least normal, with many at 120%+ snowpacks,   We are certainly hoping that a wet trend will happen for the rest of the Winter and into the Spring!  2004 will be a season that you wont want to miss!  Grab some friends and enjoy!

 If you are a big water fanatic and don't mind cooler temperatures, then book a trip in April or May!!

The White Salmon River  is one of our most popular river trips.  We will be running the White Salmon in to October!  With the aquifers full and above normal snowpack on Mt. Adams, the White Salmon should be at big flows all spring and plenty of water in the summer and fall!!!   If we are lucky we will have a Spring with flows above or near 5' (very big and probably one of the best river trips around at that level)!

The Clackamas River has often been just a spring run for River Drifters, but over the past few years we have been rafting the Clackamas later into the season.  Full-day trips on the Clackamas River should be available throughout July and even into August! Half-day trips will be an option into the first weekend of September!  Flows should be big all Spring and the Summer flows should be the best in years!

The Klickitat River is one of the most remote and beautiful rivers that we run and in many past years we have been able to enjoy warm temperatures and great rafting until early July.  The snowpack on Mt. Adams is above normal, so trips should be available throughout June!!  The best water levels are from mid-April to early June!

The Owyhee River drainage currently has one of the greatest snowpack averages in the state (near 120%)!  The Owyhee Mountains have the best snowpack in over 8 years!  As long as we don't have a huge melt, the Owyhee river should have excellent flows all Spring!  Owyhee trips shoud be available throughout the month of May and possibly into June!  However, if at all possible, plan those Owyhee River Trips before the second or third week of May if you can!  The Owyhee River is a trip of a lifetime, and if you can swing it, give our office a call!  This is the year to run the Owyhee!

The Sandy Gorge section of the Sandy River should be runnable from the beginning of March (as soon as you can brave the weather!) and continuing into early to mid (and possibly late) June.  Occasionally we do have to postpone trips if temperatures are very cold (meaning very little snowmelt and very little water) or if the area has been pelted with continuous rain and the river is too high.  The Sandy Gorge is one of the finest runs but often overlooked runs that we offer, come take advantage of a beautiful canyon in Portland's backyard!!!

The Wind River drainage is very finicky and we don't even attempt to predict.  Much of the headwaters of the Wind River are at a peak elevation of 3000-3500'.  The Wind River is a free flowing river that can easily become too high or too low, so plan ahead and be flexible!   We will be running Wind River trips from March into late May and possibly into early June.  If you are up for it, this trip cannot be matched!!  The 2004 season on the Wind should be one of the best we've seen!

The Deschutes River has been one of Oregon's most popular rivers for many years.  During the drought years of the late 1980s when many rivers were near dry the Deschutes River keeps on pumping!  There are three major rivers that help form the Lower Deschutes River (Metolius, Crooked and Deschutes) which make the Lower Deschutes runnable all year, no matter how dry the winter is.  The Deschutes will have lots of water and of fun all year!!

The Clackamas River has often been just a spring run for River Drifters, but over the past few years we have been rafting the Clackamas later into the season.  Full-day trips on the Clackamas River will be available throughout July and even into August (with great flows expected)! Half-day trips will be an option into the first weekend of September!

The White Salmon River  is one of our most popular river trips.  We will be running the White Salmon in to October!  With the aquifers full and above normal snowpack on Mt. Adams, the White Salmon should be at big flows all spring and plenty of water in the summer and fall!!!  If we are lucky we will have a Spring with flows above or near 5' (very big and probably one of the best river trips around at that level)!

The North Santiam River has traditionally been just a fall run for River Drifters due to the numerous other rivers we run.  This year we will start running the North Santiam in late July and continue through October.  Since the section of the North Santiam River that we run is below two major dams, the river is runnable throughout the entire summer!  This river is perfect for those who want to see less people and want a nice relaxing class II-III river trip! 

Thanks, and all of us at River Drifters are excited that another great season is under way! 

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