WILD RIVER.
Day 34 – We got up at 7:10 a.m. We have no electricity, water, or sewer at our site. (We do have batteries & a generator & big holding tanks.) We have no phone & internet connections. What we do have is tons of birds, turkeys, and deer at this Park. The trees are extremely healthy and beautiful. Our site has trees & bushes surrounding it but not so close in that we don’t have sunlight – this thrills the girls & they are spending their time watching the birds from various sunny locations throughout the RV. We have a private grassy area behind the RV, and weather permitting, we’ll put out the chairs. Very nice.
We were up & out by 8:20, heading back down the winding road to Gold Beach to catch the jet boat. It took 35 minutes to get to town. The weather was cold – 40 degrees when we woke up – quite sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and a little windy. We’d bundled up but found that it wasn’t enough; we each bought a wool hat at the store at Jerry’s Rogue Jets. Tomorrow is the last day of the season & they’ll be closing until next May. There were lots of people waiting for the boat since it rained for the previous 3 days. The first boat was very full of people; it left at 9:15. The second boat wasn’t as full, it was comfortable, and we pulled out at 9:35. The boats are open on the top; you can get wet. This IS the Rogue River, after all.
Jerry’s Rogue Jets, Gold Beach, OR
Rogue River Jet Boat Rides – Jerry’s Rogue Jets – on the water at the Port of Gold Beach, 1-800-451-3645 or (541) 247-4571, Jerrys@Roguejets.com e-mail, www.Roguejets.com website. Three different types of tours: 104-mile “Wilderness Whitewater”, 6 ¾ hours, May 1-Sept 30; 80-mile “Whitewater Excursion”, 4 ¾ hours, June 15-Aug 31; 64-mile “Historic Mail Route”, 4 ½ hours, May 15-Oct 15; all tours stop in Agness, OR, 32 miles upriver for a meal break (meal is not included in trip cost).
We would’ve LOVED to do the long whitewater trip but the only tour still running when we were here was the 64 mile tour. Still, it was wet enough, with the guide having a great time giving the eager group their desired thrills. The water was quite shallow, it’s that time of year, and these boats are made to travel over this terrain. During the spring the River is known for its whitewater rafting opportunities when the water comes out of the mountains and races to the sea. We definitely want to come back for that!
The trip was incredibly scenic and beautiful. We saw plenty of wildllife. No bears though. The time to see bears, according to the guide, was August. He said they’ve all left now except for a young black bear that is still hanging around, though hard to see because he’s small. Chinook & Coho salmon are caught on this River and we saw plenty of fishermen/women. No whitewater rafters, I presume due to the shallowness of the water. We saw seals, river otters, fish jumping, herons (blue & black-crowned night), egrets (great, not cattle or little), one mature and one immature bald eagle, osprey, mergansers, sea gulls, Canada geese, cows, cormorants, and kingfishers (and that was just what we could identify). We had great narration & stories, historical & otherwise, to keep us occupied, as if the scenery alone wasn’t enough! Waterfalls, canyons, rocks, trees, deep blue sky, incredible.
About half way upriver, before we stopped for lunch, we came to the bridge which Rob & I drove over the first day here when we were scoping out campgrounds. There’s a story that goes with this bridge, along with some history: When you first leave Gold Beach, you cross under a large bridge which is Highway 101 crossing over into Gold Beach.
An employee of Jerry’s Rogue Jets is standing on top of this bridge taking pictures; you all wave at him & smile and when you get back from your trip, you can purchase this picture if you like. Then, continuing on, you head upriver past some houses, a small amount of industry, a couple of RV Parks & lodges, etc., and you are promptly away from signs of civilization & people. At first you occasionally see a home up in the hills, but the guide tells you that this section of the Rogue River was protected by the Wild & Scenic River’s Act of 1968, and people cannot build new structures here, The buildings along this section of the River already existed before the passage of the Act. There is no electricity out here, people use propane for heating, that’s about it. To get mail & supplies there used to be a mailboat. To this day mail service is provided by boats like we were on until some time in October when water depth & weather won’t permit it. Mail is then delivered by truck until after the spring thaw. Eventually you cross under that bridge I mentioned before.
“Cougar Bridge”, Rogue River, OR
So originally, years ago, a young lady was hired by Jerry’s Rogue Jets to take pictures from this intermediary bridge. She had only worked there a couple of weeks and was quite excited that she’d found such a perfect job – taking pictures from an isolated bridge in the middle of the wilderness & getting paid for it. She was standing on the narrow, one-lane bridge awaiting the next boat’s arrival when she turned to see a large cougar coming out of the woods and trotting onto the bridge. She looks around hoping that a car or truck was coming which would scare off the cougar. No such luck. She can’t run away – the cougar would chase her; it was too long to the other side of the bridge. So she waits. The cougar sees her and slows down, watching her & heading slowly her way. The cougar gets closer & goes into stalking posture, getting close to the ground as it approaches. She thinks, this is it, closes her eyes, & holds the camera in front of her with both hands as protection. Eventually she opens her eyes, the hands holding the camera are shaking, the cougar looks her in the eye, stops & growls, and moves on. She decides that maybe this isn’t the right job for her and heads in the opposite direction off the bridge. As she approaches the end of the bridge, another smaller cougar heads across to follow its parent across the bridge. Phew.
We continued upriver, past the campground where we’re currently staying. There are several people fishing on the River here. One man had a definite bend in his line – he’s catching a fish! But the line goes slack. Oh darnit.
I got one!
Dang it!
We reached the tiny town of Agness & stopped for lunch at Cougar Lane Lodge. Mostly a bar-b-que place with meats & pork, they did have salads and salmon. We had Salmon Tacos, but if I was a meat eater, the burgers and the bar-b-que brisket sure looked good. (In fact, later a man on the boat said he’d had the best burger he’d ever had.) It was nice to warm up at the Lodge & all that cold, fresh air had made everyone quite hungry. Back on the boat after lunch & we headed a little farther upriver so the guide could show us just how wet we could get, LOL. Then we turned around and headed back; it was lots warmer & not windy by now. River otters were swimming and looking for fish; the scenery was fantastic.
Family of River Otters, Rogue River, OR
Family of River Otters, Rogue River, OR
The whole tour was longer than it was supposed to be by 45 minutes. We had a great time. It was 72 degrees and sunny when we arrived back at Gold Beach. We drove back to the RV; even though it was Saturday, it hadn’t gotten busy at the Park. A group of fisherman had left, replaced by a couple in a tent. We opened the windows in the RV, got out the chairs, and headed out to read our books in the warm sun. Took a short walk on a trail, vowing to walk longer tomorrow, now that the weather was nice. We had to get back to the campsite to get pictures of the resident deer.
We were still full from our lunch so we just snacked for dinner, curled up with the cats, and relaxed until bedtime. Great day!