Rouge River

When I returned to Oregon, I had x-rays taken (they were negative) and went on a 4 night river trip down the Rogue River with 13 other people. Two were teachers at the high school, the rest were their spouses, their friends and siblings. We put in at above Grave Creek and took out at Foster Bar. We had 5 boats: 3 rafts with oars and 1 passenger (room for 6) an inflatable kayak (1) and a paddle raft for 7. I was in the paddle raft. We had 6 people that had never been on the river and 1 who was our rudder.
The first day had a few small rapids and then Rainy Falls. Danger Dave, one of our leaders, had decided he would run the main chute of the falls for the first time. We got out of the boats and spotted with other rafters. We watched a few people go over the falls and then our party tried our hand. There were 3 routes, a fish ladder, a middle chute and the main falls. Two boats went middle chute with no problem, then the paddle raft tried. They approached slowly and got taken into some rocks where they were stranded for about 5 minutes. It seemed like forever. They finally ended up getting out of the boat (not recommended) and pushed off the rocks. They then entered the chute and somehow got pushed sideways in the middle and wedged the boat stuck in the middle of some falls. We knew that if they had the problems, Danger would get through easily. Danger's run was flawless.
We found a campsite big enough for two parties of 14. We shared our space with another big party. We both had our own sleeping area and kitchens, but shared bathrooms. We watched part of the meteor shower that night as a camp group.
The next day we stayed at the same campground and spent the day hiking, reading, swimming, etc. That night as Marie and I were at the river, I spotted some river otters. Rick, a member of our party who is most similar to Bear Gryls, swam up and interacted with the Mom and the two babies. It was pretty crazy.
The next day was the calmest day on the river. At one point there was a place to swim through rapids. I chose to stay in the boat, but next year I will go. There was some fun water but nothing two difficult. At one point toward the end of the day, I was able to rudder the paddle raft. I have been in canoes before but never in charge of a paddle raft. We stopped on a very rocky beach and my foot could not handle it. It was extremely painful. Everyone on the trip was great about me having a hurt foot. I felt like a free loader. I did not have to carry any heavy objects, and many times I was able to rest when other work was to be done. Next year I will be the pack mule I can tell. That night as people were playing cards, fishing, and snacking, a mother bear and two small cubs walked by the other side of the river. It was awesome. They stood on a rock posing for pictures before disappearing into the grass.
The next day, we had to try and go quickly to claim a camp site. We had our biggest rapids of the trip as well with a place called Blossom Bar. At the begining of our day, the first rapid we got into, we hit a rock and Jeff and I were both dumped into the water. I lost my sunglasses, my hat, and a paddle. We quickly got back into the boat and pulled to the side to see if we could find the paddle. As we waited, my hat floated by. It was about a foot under the water. Angela and I both dove in after it and recovered it. My sunglasses were gone.
We stopped at a lodge and waited for some of our other boats to catch up. While there we found out that our paddle was recovered. We all went down through an amazing canyon and had some incredible rock walls on either side. We then hit blossom bar. All of the boats made it through with no problems. At that point, I was able to play rudder again. It was great. We found our final campsite. It had a great beach, and nearby was a natural water slide. It took a pretty good hike to the top to get to the waterfall. I was feeling pretty good, so I made the hike putting the least amount of pressure on my foot as I could. It was a good workout.
The slide was incredible. It looked like there was an overhang that if you didn't duck, you would smash your skull against a ton of rock. You didn't have much time to think either, it was pretty steep. I was able to climp up to the top, using just a rope and walking up a rock wall. That was the part I was most nervous about. I made it down the hill as well, but very slowly. That night there was much celebration with wine and gin and tonics. We played cards, went swimming, and the likes. The most fun, however, was that when we arrived at camp, a 20lb salmon carcass was on the other side of the river. We saw a golden eagle swoop down, stand on the carcass and rip some flesh from it. Then two crows and 9 turkey vultures came to stake their claim. It took about 3 hours for the vultures to actually get to the carcass. To wake up some of our compadres, I yelled at their tent, "hey bear!!" At that moment a bear came around the corner and went for the carcass. Luckily it was on the othe side of the river. We watched it grab the carcass and move into the woods. A while later another bear came by and went to where the bear disapeared and we were able to hear a little of their scuffle. It was the greatest nature documentary I had ever seen. As we were going to bed, we heard a splash in the river. We all grabbed headlamps and scanned the water, thinking a bear would venture across into our camp. Luckily it was only a duck (we think). The last day on our way out, we had lots of Gin and tonic left. We filled Nalgenes and other bottles full. By the end of the morning, we had strapped the boats together and were all experiencing happiness from the drink. Our drive home was uneventful, except the car sickness mixed with a hang over. Youch.

Photos