Page 208 - WDT MAGAZINE PORTUGAL

Oregon’s Rogue River a fun, family friendly Wild and Scenic stream

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY

BY BRIAN CLARK

ith its soothing siren call, the Rogue
River draws me back every few
years to kayak its frolicking rapids,
revel in it verdant canyons, hike up
W its side creeks and sleep on its
welcoming beaches.
I’m not alone in treasuring this delightful, family
friendly whitewater stream in the southwest corner
of Oregon, which flows 215 miles from its
headwaters near Crater Lake National Park through
the Cascade Mountains on its way to the Pacific
Ocean.
Designated as one of the eight original Wild and
Scenic rivers in the United States in 1968, roughly 80
miles in the lower section are protected from dam-
building, diversion or other kinds of development.
Additional streams in that seminal group include the
Clearwater and Salmon rivers in Idaho and the
Feather in northern California.
Thousands of people enjoy the Rogue each year
for salmon and steelhead fishing, whitewater rafting
and hiking, to say nothing of its rugged scenery.
Western adventure writer and novelist Zane Grey
came here to fish in the 1920s and built a modest
cabin on a stretch of the lower river that remains
today. He extolled the Rogue in magazine articles
that boosted its standing among anglers. He also
penned the novel “Rogue River Feud” from his time
on the stream that dealt with conflicts between gold
seekers, salmon anglers and a fish-packing monopoly.
There was, of course, a love angle between a
wounded WWI veteran and the daughter of a
fisherman.
I’ve done some angling in my time - and even
caught a treasured steelhead - but it’s the tumbling
rapids of the Rogue that drew me here more than 40
years to kayak as part of a University of California,
Davis outdoor program. That was the start of a
decades-long love affair with Western whitewater. I
also fell, hard, for a fair-haired cross-country ski
instructor on that first trip, which, perhaps, has
something to do with my enduring affection for the
river. Alas, the relationship - passionate while it
lasted - didn’t endure. But I was hooked on the
Rogue and have been back half-a-dozen times since
then to kayak - and reminisce.

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