Sheep Creek (Bruneau trib)

May 17-19, 2016, three of us Portlanders completed the run starting from the 4780 Simplot Ranch Bridge, South East of Grasmere, making the section of Sheep Creek ~31 miles in length. The Mary's creek confluence is ~10 miles downstream from where we launched. The first 18 miles of the run is willow-choked. We quickly learned how big of a willow patch we could just bust through. James' place (on GPS) is about 1 hour downstream from the launch and would make a good first camp.

The first class IV rapid is at mile 7 after a left bend. There are numerous class III and a few class IV rapids that are in the willows, meaning that they are claustrophobic and difficult to scout.

When the canyon walls get vertical and the channel is deeper, the willows abate. There is a class V named Slide or Gushy at mile 20, easy to recognize, portage left. This rapid is more runnable at higher flows. There's a camp on river right around the next right bend from here.

A couple miles downstream are a III and two IV's in the narrow gorge. Then the canyon opens up and the willows return. In the next gorge section at around mile 26 there is another class V-VI called Redwall, which comes after a left bend and where there is a sheer wall on the left. Portage on the rock pile on the right. The last eddy above the drop is small but if you are gutsy enough to go there the portage is short. It is possible to portage from the next eddy up which is larger and does not require a ferry above a class VI.

There is one more complex class IV below this point and lots of II and III before the confluence with the Bruneau. The Bruneau moves fast and we were able to paddle the 30 miles to the takeout at 1800cfs in under 5 hours. Fivemile rapid on the Bruneau is truly read and run for a class IV paddler who is comfortable in big water; very fun.

There are many small camp sites scattered throughout the run, but very few large sites. I would not attempt this run with a group larger than 4 boats, and I would not recommend bringing a raft because of the willows.

FLOWS
There is no gauge on Sheep Creek however you can estimate the flow by calculations. Subtract the West fork (Bruneau at Rowland NV) and 2x the Jarbidge flow (because the gauge is on one of two forks) from the Bruneau at Hotsprings flow. The remainder is ~60% Sheep creek and 40% East fork aka Clover Creek. Six hundred is a reasonable flow on Sheep. Sheep Creek and the EFB both run off earlier than the Jarbidge because they are lower elevation. Locals say that you can also run Sheep Creek on rainfall if the Bruneau is over 2500 on rain only.