Trip Report: Two Rogue Laps

LAP 1: AUGUST 7-10

Five of us ran the Wild & Scenic Rogue and nothing much happened. We saw turtles sunning on rocks in the morning, mergansers sleeping in the shade in the afternoon, and great blue herons flying like pterodactyls in the sky. We swam in the river.

The otters swam in the river too. The ones at Battle Bar are still there, and we spotted river otters at Kelsey and many other places. We also saw 4 black bears on lap 1.

I was the only one in a kayak. Will, Audz and Steve were in canoes, and Joe rowed his cataraft and transported the groover. I did join on Joe's cataraft to R-2 it through the Fish Ladder. It was a wee bit rowdy (we did a 360).

R-2ing the cat through the fish ladder, photo by Will Gehr

We were going to go to the North Umpqua but the Diamond Complex of fires had smothered that region in thick smoke. It was also smoky at the Almeda Campground put-in but by the time we got to Rainey falls that evening the smoke had mostly cleared.

We camped in a new-to-me place on river left upstream from Rainey where we found 4 discrete sleep spots in sand patches on the low basalt bench. My river notes keep improving. Audrey pointed out the pretty purple-blooming invasive known as Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).

Audrey at Battle Bar, photo by Teresa Gryder

Mule Creek Canyon was exciting as it always is. What a boiling mess. We had smooth lines through Blossom Bar except for the emotional shock of confronting a jetboat blocking the river at the bottom of the rapid. That driver treated us like we were zoo animals, there for the amusement of his customers.

We had the usual disappointments with others grabbing the best camps early, and ended up camping at Upper Tacoma, again. I dislike the Rogue culture of camp running. I read somewhere that regulators are trying to limit commercial outfitters to ONE camp running boat per trip--I guess they were sending more than one ahead to nail down all the good camps!

Camp tip for anyone who can get to it faster than the commercials: the camp known as Telephone Bar (on river left after Horseshoe Bend) has "filled in" and become a nice cobble bar camp. It has afternoon shade in the summer.

Dusk at Upper Tacoma was mosquitoey

We had enough food to stay out a 5th day but we just couldn't seem to stretch it past 4 days. On the way home we tried to eat our leftover camp food but ended up stopping again for lunch at Huele a Tacos, a taco truck in Sutherlin (just off I-5). Think fresh pico, homemade tortillas and salsas, coca cola in glass bottles, cacti, and genuine Mexican friendliness. Wayyyy better than camping leftovers.

Huele a Tacos in Sutherline, OR (great food!)

LAP 2, AUGUST 23-26

Molly picked up the permits and threw this trip together in short order. We launched at Almeda with more than 2,300cfs and then it rained. Just a few showers at first then a steady rain that set in at dinnertime. We ate and retreated to our tents to wait out the storm which lasted most of the night. "We" were Molly and her friends Meghan and Jonas on the raft & IK, plus the kayakers: Pool brothers (David & Bob), Alan who shall not be further named, me, and Banjo the mellowest canine companion ever.

The crew

We had plenty of excitement starting with trailer trouble at the put-in, then oar-popping trouble at Grave Creek Falls, seeing fisherman holding a large fall Chinook below Rainey Falls, and the rainstorm all on day 1. For whatever reason there was not a single bear spotted on lap 2.

Dealing with a very wet start to the trip

The river came up significantly on day 2, and Alligator Rock in Wildcat rapid was discovered and explored. The big rapids on day 3 went fine including Jonas running Mule Creek Canyon and Blossom in the IK and looking like a pro. In contrast, I got worked by 3 whirlpools in a row in Mule Creek Canyon and barely kept it upright. On day 4 Meghan tried the IK and wiped out at Clay Hills rapid but had a solid mid-river recovery.

There was music. I didn't know Molly could sing like that. 🤩 And her friends are also musical with beautiful voices and a ukelele. And if you didn't know already, Alan can sing and play guitar. And he knows the constellations.

All in all I am learning to love this Wild & Scenic Oregon river, and I am grateful for all my friends from our incredible boating community.

Rogue reflections at Lower Tate Camp, photo by David Pool