It gave us a gradual but quite beautiful introduction to the river and the canyons in the lower section. We also assumed it would give us a chance to hone our white-water skills before we got to the lower section. In fact at the water levels we had, dropping from 1,700cfs to 1,200 by the end of the trip, the upper portion was just as challenging as the lower section. The logistics were amazingly simple. We also had a copy of John Day River Drift and Historical Guide by Arthur Campbell.
River flow is extremely important and can change rapidly.
At 1,700 cfs and below, however, we found the hazards of these rapids and others to be rock dodging rather than large hydraulics. At low water, the clear channel through Russo Rapids is on the left, where the current piles up against a rock wall. The other choice is to sneak it on the right which is what we chose, but there are a lot of rocks at low water. We easily ran the first section of Clarno Rapids which at higher water is class III, but after watching two drift boats line through the rock garden below and one inflatable kayak carry around it we decided the prudent choice was to portage. Later we did see one drift boat run the rapids after unloading passengers and beer, butt the portage is very easy, and there is a good camp site at the end of the trail which we utilized since it was getting late.