Based on the sluggish first four miles of this trip, my boat was in no shape to make the sharp left turn and stay off the wall at the bottom of Tyee – so, thanks to the suggestion of Rick Allen, I asked my boat mates to “fish” their way around the rapid and meet me on the down-river side… (it would be the successful strategy for our next four days of river running the III’s and IV’s). Normally my boat floats like a leaf, draws 4 inches of water, is more nimble than most any boat on the river, and handles a Class IV rapid without too much worry. We fished the heck out of Mondale Riffle and faced the first Class IV of the trip – Tyee. It came to rest with 5 feet of rope left in my hands and we scrambled to regain rope and composure. We took on more water than usual through Graves – the first Class III of the 34 miles, and we picked up a few new “racing stripes” in the fish ladder as we scraped our way around the Class VI Rainie Falls – at one terrifying part of the lining I lost control of the heavy boat and it careened down the chute as a runaway – ripping rope through my gloved hands so fast I smelled burning leather and felt fire in my palms. How in the world was the boat going to navigate the technical water ahead? I was worried. Some of my favorite faithful river-rats were on this trip and were quick to point out I was so loaded down with gear and guys that I had no rocker left to my boat – both the bow and the stern were touching water… ouch – kinda negates the best features of the McKenzie style drift boat. There were seven of us in two drift boats and two cats.
Three guys, two tents, three sleeping bags and food and drink for four days pushed the limits of my little wooden drift boat and I swear I heard it groan under the weight as we pushed off from Graves Creek put-in early last Thursday loaded to the gunnels. My son came out from Texas and brought a friend which added an extra element of river management to the long list of things on my mind.
From Rogue River lunatic, Greg Hatten: Our annual trip to the Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue last weekend was particularly memorable this year.
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