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September 17th-21st - 4 days on the Rogue River
Wendy:
We’ve spent the last week kayaking the “Wild and Scenic Rogue
River”, a class III run in
Southern Oregon
. It was our first group trip since
we left; there were 12 kayakers, and 2 rafters who carried our gear.
Why is it called a “Wild and Scenic” run?
Good question. Wild (in the
exciting sense) might be an overstatement, since the run was mellow, but scenic is a very good
description. We saw so much wildlife
along the river….a bald eagle, a black bear, blue herons, osprey, turkey
vultures, seagulls, madrone monkeys (stuffed monkeys that river guides have
placed in trees along the river as a joke), and HUGE salmon.
We stopped to scout Rainy Falls, a particularly difficult class V rapid
(no mom, we didn’t do the drop, we actually took the easier class III+ fish
ladder alternate route), and while scouting, a 3 foot long salmon jumped out of
the middle of the big drop, going upstream!
The black bear was
playing and eating on a beach as we went by.
He watched us and we watched him, both in awe of one another!
The trip was led by Mary and Phil DeReimer (www.adventurekayaking.com). For my walking group
friends, Mary is the woman who told me the phrase “I’m strong, I’m
wonderful (or powerful, or smart, or beautiful, fill in your favorite word), and
I can do this!” Mary uses positive
self talk to get through difficult situations, and since I’ve met her I’ve
begun doing it too (and it works!). She
and Phil are known as world class kayakers, and their positive attitudes ooze
out of everything they do. They both
have perpetual smiles on their faces, and you can’t do anything but smile and
laugh in their presence.
The group of boaters was eclectic and very fun.
I was the butt of a very good practical joke (no pun intended, ask and
I’ll elaborate). One of the guests
was a piano player from
New York City, and he brought a battery operated keyboard on the trip.
We were treated to performances each night, which culminated in a song
that Peter wrote about the trip. Joy,
Bill and Bob from Whitewater Warehouse organized the food and
camping. Let’s just say we ate
like pigs! Joy’s aunt Berry
made fresh jams, which were in turn a perfect compliment to the handmade
buttermilk biscuits, cobbler, sandwiches, you name it.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to eating delicious steak in the
middle of the wilderness, taken from a cooler that has floated on a raft down a
river.
One more cool thing to report.
After September 11th, I emailed ABC news to tell them how much
I appreciated Peter Jennings and his coverage of the 9/11 events and the one
year anniversary. When we got off
the river, guess who I had email from? Peter
Jennings! He personally thanked me
for my positive feedback, how cool is that?!
Andy: Broken camera. No photos.
Damn. Although some photos are available from a previous
trip.
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