Southwest Oregon: Rogue River Day 1

This post recounts our first day of whitewater rafting on the Rogue River in Southwest Oregon, after having visited Crater Lake the day before and spent the night at the Galice Resort where we were to rendezvous for this trip. We were looking forward to warm weather rafting on the Rogue River, one of the original eight rivers named in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.

After having awakened early in the morning in our cabin on the hill above the Rogue River, we would pack our belongings and drive down the hill to the store where we were to meet the rest of our crew. Intentionally, we were really early so that we could grab a cup of not-so-good coffee at the store and relax with it while taking in the river behind the store.

Starting our Rogue River Rafting Adventure

As we sat in chairs overlooking the hazy, smoky river, an Osprey made several attempts to snag a fish just behind the store near the boat launch. Ann and I thought that we might be leaving from that boat launch, but found out later that we would be driving a few miles west to the Grave Creek put-in. We were about to raft the section between Grave Creek and Foster Bar, the section of this river designated as wild and managed in parts by both the USFS and BLM.

Our Smoky Morning Coffee and Rendezvous Location

After we had given up on trying to force down our blech coffee, a Momentum van pulled into the parking lot towing an empty trailer, a clear sign that we were not putting in at Galice. In the smoky haze thanks to nearby forest fires, we soon introduced ourselves to our trip leader, Alyssa, and transferred our meager gear to the bottom fifth of one of their large dry bags. This trip, unlike our trip to the Owyhee, would involve no camping.

Because we were staying in riverside lodges for both nights, we only had to bring scant clothing and toiletries. And because this trip happened in near 100-degree temperatures, we needed no cold weather gear. I brought along a super-light jacket, but never took it out of the dry bag. Despite the relative luxury of lodge stays, the oppressive heat would have us wishing to camp by the cooler river a couple of times.

Alyssa assembled us in the parking lot and we introduced ourselves: Ann and I from Bend, Dave from Otis (Lincoln City), Steve and Vicki from Newberg, and four nurses from Longview TX: Judy, Mandy, Kendal, and Melissa. Alyssa is from Mt. Shasta and John, our gear-boater who we would meet at the put-in, is a college student from LA.

From the parking lot, we were to follow the Momentum van up the hill to park our cars in an unused part of the resort for the duration of our float. Suffice it to say that we may have got lost going up the hill a couple of times on the many crisscrossing roads and that we may have had to do some near 4-wheel drive in 2-wheel vehicles and a lot of backing down narrow, twisty lanes. Ultimately, we got the cars stashed and set out on the road west to Grave Creek, probably 45-60 minutes later than planned.

Just before we crossed the bridge across the Rogue at Grave Creek, I spotted a large Bald Eagle on a snag just off the road. When we descended to the river at the put-in, several swallows were working the air above the river. This is notable in that our swallows on the Deschutes were gone by the last week in July and we will not see them again until early- to mid-April. Down on the river, much of the smoke had dissipated and we had a largely sunny day.

At the launch, we met John and he gave us the de rigueur safety briefing before we split up among the two boats. Somehow, Ann and I got in the front of Alyssa's raft with the four Texans. They ended up being quite entertaining and we had a blast with them over the three days of the trip.

At Grave Creek, Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria
A Seriously Invasive Plant

Readying to Depart after Obligatory Safety Briefing

Underway at Long Last

First of Many Mergansers, the Most Common Duck on the River

We Were Fortunate to Watch a Great Blue Heron
Take Exception to and Chase Away a Great Egret, Loudly and Repeatedly

Soon enough, we came to the class-V Rainie Falls and our guides dropped us on the south bank to make the portage around the falls while they each took on raft down a side channel around the big rapids, a channel called the Fish Ladder. I would photograph them in running the ladder. It was amazing to me how differently the lighter boat and the heavier gear boat fared in tight quarters.

This was my first opportunity to look at the plants and trees that I had been seeing from the water. The sunny banks are covered in massive quantities of both grape vines and poison oak. Thankfully, poison oak is not really a thing in Central Oregon around Bend. One of the very first things that I saw on hitting dry land here at the falls was a pile of fresh bear scat laden with blackberry seeds. It seems Ann and I would have competition for the sweet ripe berries.

Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) and Wild Grapes (Vitus sp.) at Rainie Falls

Abundant Purple Loosestrife at Rainie Falls

Rainie Falls

Alyssa Ferrying Her Raft Down Fish Ladder

John's Heavy Gear Boat was Harder to Maneuver

Waiting at Rainie Falls to Get Going Again

This is a Tall Fuzzy Manzanita Not Found in Central Oregon
Hairy Manzanita, Arctostaphylos columbiana

At some point after noon, we pulled to the north bank of the river where a shaded spot hid a creek that we could not see from the water. After sitting in the blazing sun with temperatures in the high 90s and still headed higher, shade was just what we were looking for.

While Alyssa and John prepped lunch right in the middle of the cool water of Whiskey Creek, some of us headed up the hill to see the abandoned miner's cabin that is on the National Register of Historic Places and sits just above the Rogue River Trail. Here while waiting for lunch, I got a look at some of the trees and shrubs that I had seen while on the water, trees such as Canyon Oaks and Tanbark-oaks that I had never seen before.

During lunch, I sat on a rock in the creek and let the icy water cool my feet on a brutally hot day, just a wonderful experience that is hard to describe. After lunch, we put back into the river and headed west toward our lodge for the night, Black Bar Lodge.

Lunch Break at Whiskey Creek

Prepping Lunch in Middle of Whiskey Creek

Tanbark-Oak, Notholithocarpus densiflorus, not a True Oak

Whiskey Creek Miner's Cabin

Whiskey Creek from Bridge

A New-To-Me Relative of the California Poppy
Tufted Poppy, Eschscholzia caespitosa

Back on the river after lunch, the high heat would have us all jumping in the river whenever possible to cool off. The water felt absolutely amazing. We had hoped to go see the Rogue River Ranch on our way down to Black Bar, but because we got a late start in the morning, we had used all our schedule slack in swimming, jumping off rocks, and floating minor rapids.

Some of the more major rapids were a lot of fun and pretty bumpy. At one point, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ann looking like she was getting bucked off into the river and managed to reach across the raft and yank her back. In the end, nobody exited the raft who did not intend to get in the delightful water.

My Crazy Wife

In the late afternoon, we arrived at the take-out for Black Bar Lodge, slogged in the blasting heat up to the lodge, found our cabins, and dropped our small gear bags. Then we waited for the guides to off-load our big bags from the gear boat so that we could change into something more comfortable. The heat in our rustic cabins was stifling, so after a quick shower and a change of clothes, we headed outside to cool off.

As far as accommodations go, Black Bar Lodge definitely puts the R in rustic. But out in the wilderness, it is something of a miracle that they have hot showers and even some electricity from a diesel generator from 7-10 p.m. As much as I appreciated the hot shower and the bunk, I would have preferred to bathe in the river and sleep in my tent so that the peaceful rush of the whitewater could put me to sleep.

Smiling Bravely in the Brutal Heat

On the way from the river to our cabins, on the manicured grass outside the main lodge building, we passed a group of tiny Black-tailed Deer, a subspecies of Mule Deer limited to the area west of the Cascades in Oregon. East of the Cascades where we live, we have the very large Mule Deer which are twice as large as these tiny deer.

After showering and grabbing cold beers from the cooler, so thoughtfully brought up from the river, Ann and I decided to walk back to the lodge to see if the deer were still browsing on the grass. They were and one doe entertained us by standing on her hind legs trying to pick unripe apples from a tree.

Watching the Tiny Deer at Black Bar Lodge

One of the Most Massive Doug Firs I Have Ever Seen

While we were off amusing ourselves watching the deer, our guides got busy putting together first appetizers (avocado toasts with smoked salmon) and then dinner, a green Thai curry. We had appetizers out on the deck of the kitchen building, but the mosquitoes were pretty unbearable. As it started to get dark (dark comes early down in the river canyon) and the lodge turned on the generator to give us some illumination, we moved inside to the big group table for dinner.

At one point while we were out on the deck, somebody decided to play stump-the-chef and brought me a slice of galanga from the curry to taste to see if I could identify it. I first used frozen galanga root more than 40 years ago when I was studying Thai cuisine, long before it became available fresh, and it has been a regular part of my cooking vocabulary ever since. Gonna have to try harder than that to stump me.

Appetizers, Avocado Toasts with Smoked Salmon

Dessert, Strawberries and Chocolate

After dinner, we headed back outside to gab for a while. John brought out a pan of melted chocolate and sliced strawberries which was a hit with the ladies. I don't really eat dessert, so I passed on it, but I appreciated the effort. Soon after dessert, we all headed back to our cabins to call it a night.

It was so brutally hot in our cabin that I stripped down to a pair of shorts and lay on top of my bunk. It did not cool off enough to even put on a shirt until 3:30 and I finally pulled a sheet over myself at around 5:30. It was not a restful night.