A few months back my friend Kristi emailed me, letting me know that she had scored a permit for the Rogue River in OR. She and I spent a few months hashing out all the details of the trip, but before long, the trip was upon us. There were going to be 8 paddlers, setting out for 3 days of paddling on the “Wild and Scenic” designated section of the Rogue River, in Oregon.
I left work early on friday, and met up with James and Jessica, after a stop at REI we headed north. It was about 7 hours total for me, but several of the paddlers from SoCal had much longer drives
The group trickled into the campground Friday night. We’d hired a raft (and raft paddler, Aaron) to carry our food and camping gear, so we spent an hour or two Sat morning sorting gear, and it was on down the river.
Simply put, it was a fantastic weekend. The river was gorgeous, the scenery amazing, the wildlife abundant, and the paddling fun. the River is mostly mellow, with no real challenging rapids, but some fun stuff, and lots of fun play spots. Both Sat and Sunday we paddled and played until late in the evening.
Jessica, 13 and only paddling for a year, spent the weekend learning to cartwheel in her kayak, and did awesome.
We ate super well, with each of us cooking a meal each. Super good stuff. The campsites were gorgeous.
Not much of a story, I realize, simply an incredible trip. Great friends, an amazing place, and fun paddling, what more could a kayaker want?
