65 - 9/23/2010 - Rogue (Day 1)

Almost Ready to Go!

The Rogue has become a late summer tradition for me. In 2006 and 2007, a group of us ran it in early October. We found that it was easy to get a permit and there weren't a lot of other people on the river. After skipping 2008 because of scheduling conflicts, some people started putting in for late September permits. It's just as uncrowded, but the weather is usually nicer.

I had a tough time getting started on this trip. I couldn't find several items, which was frustrating, though nothing was critical. Also, with 15 people to feed, there was a lot more meal preparation for my dinner night. We got into camp just after dark the night before.

In the morning, we tried to get an early start, but a flat tire on the trailer slowed us down. I was glad that we had pre-rigged and deflated our catarafts, since that made them much easier to set up. I did learn one lesson - make sure people don't tighten the boat straps on the trailer.

We got going quickly enough, and headed down the river. I got ahead to take photos at Graves Creek Falls. We had one swimmer, but otherwise everyone made it fine. As we approached Rainey Falls, I changed my mind several times about running the Dory Chute, which is one of the options. In the end, I ran the Dory Chute and I did fine. It was the right option for me. As I was waiting for people below the rapid, an overturned canoe came towards me and I grabbed the rope and wrestled the boat to shore. The owners were thankful.

We got to Whiskey Creek campground, which was the campground we used the year before, but the trip leader decided that we should push on for another hour or so. We finally stopped at Tyee Bar, just below Tyee rapid. This campsite has a long beach, which was ideal for our large group. One of the people in the group told me that something very interesting was coming down the river. I saw it as it came around the corner - a raft was carrying a smaller, orange version of my Wing inflatable kayak. These boats are very rare, and I am still looking for another one like mine.