Page 210 - WDT MAGAZINE PORTUGAL

Eight years ago, after my oldest son, Matt, his 13-year-old son, Joe. A fun-loving lad, he’s a chip
finished his studies at the Evergreen State College in off the ol’ block.
Olympia, Wa. with a degree in recording arts, we They live in San Francisco and sail frequently for
decamped for the Rogue and some father-son much of their aquatic recreation these days. The pair
bonding within an hour after his graduation picked me up at the Sacramento airport - I’d flown in
ceremony. from my home in Madison, WI - and we drove north
Once on the river, an osprey circled overhead as through smoke from forest fires on the California-
we pushed off into the current, which I took as a good Oregon border. We spent the night at the Galice
omen. Soon we were Resort, listened to a band
drifting down the Rogue playing music from the
through rugged terrain that Grateful Dead and the
once was home to the Eagles and dined on
Coquille and other Native barbecued chicken and
American tribes - who salad on a deck
called the stream “Tak- overlooking the gurgling
elam” - before bloody Rogue.
conflicts with miners, We met up with with
settlers and their militias guides from Hood River-
led to their forced removal based Northwest Rafting
to reservations.. (nwrafting.com) after a
Pine trees and shrubs breakfast of French toast
climbed the sides of the the next morning and
canyon, offering a range of were on our way, headed
light to deep-green hues. for the put-in below
Here and there were splashes of red and earthy Grave Creek at the entrance to the roadless area.
orange in the form of madrone trees, a bigger version We’d been worried that the fires might prevent our
of the manzanita bush. trip, but they thankfully stayed to the south.
At one point, several great blue herons, looking to Soon, Moth and I were practicing Eskimo rolls in
me like something from the Jurassic age, flew back our hard-shelled kayaks, while Joe became
and forth across the river, much to our delight. And in comfortable in his inflatable kayak. It wasn’t long
a calm eddy, a six-pack of Western pond turtles before we came upon Grave Creek Falls, a class 3
basked on a tree branch, oblivious to our presence. (moderately difficult) rapid that knocked us about a
Matt and I shared a tent on that three-night, four- bit, though we all stayed upright - including Joe.
day trip and I got used to his occasional snores. (And A bald eagle floated in the sky above us, and I
he mine, I assume.) But the last evening, with millions couldn’t help but wonder if it was kin to any of the
of stars filling the sky above us, we slept on the beach other birds I’d encountered on previous trips. Nearby,
only a few feet from the river, sans tents. In the a pair of otters swam in the river and a family of
morning, as the sunrise reached the rim of the canyon mergansers paddled in an eddy. The canyon, just as I
and began to illuminate our campsite, I watched him recalled, was loaded with wildlife.
snooze and smiled at my good fortune as I sipped Abut five miles from the put-in came the
coffee that had been prepared by guides from the notorious Rainie Falls, a Class V - very difficult and
OARS (oars.com) rafting outfitter. That, indeed, was a dangerous - rapid that is the most-feared drop on the
special trip. Rogue. Which is why we pulled over to scout it and
Last summer, I got the opportunity to paddle the ponder the consequences of getting stuck in the
Rogue again. This time around I went with my old reversal at the bottom of the rapid on the left side of
paddling buddy, “Moth” Lorenzen - who has the river. It didn’t take long to decide that running the
accompanied me on numerous kayaking adventures Class III “fish ladder” on the right side of the stream
on the West Coast, Central and South America - and was the most prudent and sensible way to go.

Top: Rafters camp at a sandy beach near the end of a
four-day trip on Rogue River with the Hood River, Oregon-
based NW Rafting Co. Left: A gaggle of photographers
watch a crew from Northwest Rafting run Rainie Falls on
the Rogue River. Above: Rafters hike to the Rogue River
Ranch, a lovely site on the banks of the Rogue River that
was homesteaded in the late 1800s.
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