Goin' Rogue

After spending a couple of days cleaning up at my parent’s house we headed up to Portland to pick up Alexis's brother Garrett.  We then packed up the rafting gear and headed south to the Rogue River where my parents had planned their annual 4 day river trip.  Along the way we stopped at Rice Hill for ice cream.  The restaurant at Rice Hill is well known for their rude slow service and poor food but they do have great ice cream.  My mom and Garrett found out the hard way that if you want two separate flavors of ice cream you get a double cone or in this case a quadruple.  Garrett had some structural integrity problems with his cone, but after we scrounged up the 25 cents for a bowl, he was able to finish it off (I'm not so sure that he felt that this was a good thing an hour later).  The next day, after a couple large meals at the Galice Resort and a poor night sleep due to nearby campers partying into the wee morning hours, we launched in unseasonably hot weather with six rafts, 10 people, and one dog; Alexis, Garrett, my parents, Jon and Paula, the other Bob and Betty, Gretchen and myself. 



With the temperatures in the 90s we really enjoyed being on the water and getting a bit wet going through the rapids.  We all managed to bump our way down the Rainey Falls fish ladder (pretty typical runs, but not ours, can be seen here and here).  We spent the first night at Doe Creek at ate way too much food (this can be said of every night on the river).  We spotted two black bears across the river from us, but didn't have any problems with the bears in camp.  Garrett did decide that a tent might be slightly more bear-proof than just sleeping out under the stars.  The next day we again enjoyed the weather and I got Alexis to row for a bit.  She really got to practice her rock dodging as I didn't tell her where we were until she had rowed through Horseshoe, her first class III rapid!  That evening we camped at Doolog and spent a bit of time hiking up the river and then floating down in our lifejackets.  I learned how to properly tie a tie (when will I need this skill?) as the night was a formal occasion with ties mandatory for everyone, even the dog.

A quick breakfast the following morning had us on the water before 9, almost a new record.  We stopped at a few tourist stops including Zane Grey’s Cabin and the Anderson Ranch before heading down Mule Creek Canyon, where Alexis learned to high-side, and Blossom Bar.  Blossom bar is always exciting, but this time there was a drift boat lodged behind the picket fence.  All of our party made it though just fine and we celebrated with dress-up night and blended margaritas at upper Half Moon.  A late-to-camp group passed us after a couple rounds of drinks and we managed to do a pretty good stadium style wave for them.  The last day Garrett took the oars from my dad and Alexis from my mom, both had a great time rowing and taking in the sights.  A quick de-rig and we took off for some pizza and the return trip to Corvallis.