Читать книгу Grant's Getaways: Oregon Adventures with the Kids онлайн

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If you mention the Owyhee to most folks, they stare back at you a tad bewildered and ask, “Did you say Ow-ya-hoo-ee? Or, Aw-ya-hay?” Well, it’s pronounced “oh-WYE-hee,” as in “Hawaii.” The story goes that Peter Skene Ogden, who led a contingent of North West Company trappers into the region in 1819, named the Owyhee River. Three Hawaiians had been sent to trap for furs on a tributary of the Snake River, where Ogden was camped. The trappers were killed by Indians, and Ogden named the tributary for them. Over the centuries, the “Hawaii River” name has been corrupted into the “Owyhee River.”

Out of the way? It certainly is! This is a most secluded and pristine river, and with the sound of its water rushing through boulder-strewn rapids, it’s just the kind of territory that stirs my senses and satisfies my soul. It’s where I went looking for adventure with Gerald Moore, the owner and operator of Water Otters. We were slated to float the wild Owyhee River to produce a special outdoor program. So we joined Moore’s outfitting and guide company because it specialized in Oregon’s hard-to-reach rivers. Also, unlike large white-water rafts that seat up to six people, Water Otters (as the name implies) offered a flotilla of small, more intimate, inflatable kayaks. It was a cozy, self-sufficient experience, where you were your own skipper on a voyage of discovery.