Rogue River Special, August 2016

Rogue River Special, Grants to the Sea by Dory, August 16 - 21, 2016

***SOLD OUT*** 

We are starting a waiting list in case some folks take leave of their senses

Let us know.

For nearly thirty years our small group of die-hard dory boatmen have been organizing “extended play” expeditions throughout the Colorado Plateau, doing longer stretches of river at a more relaxed pace than any sane outfitter is willing to offer. We are delighted that a few hard core passengers–now old friends–keep choosing to join us. We run classic wooden dories–the kind Martin Litton introduced to Grand Canyon half a century ago. 

Designed and built by Jerry Briggs of Grants Pass, Oregon, and based on his original classic Rogue River Special, they are considered to be the Stradivarius of dories. Our gang is proud to be running five of the original thirty-six precious craft. 

This year we are heading back to the roots of our vessels–Oregon’s Rogue River. The standard commercial trip there is a three-day trip of 35 miles. We are orchestrating a seven-day adventure of over one hundred miles from Grants Pass to the Pacific Ocean–the stretch first made famous by Zane Grey in the 1920s, and the run where Buzz Holmstrom cut his teeth in 1934. We’ll be running with Jerry Briggs’s own company, now under the helm of his son-in-law Brett Clark. 

It will be a different trip than we’ve ever offered. We will be staying in the comfort of the historic river lodges along the way rather than camping. At the beginning and end we will be traveling through a bit of populated area with occasional jet boat traffic but so what?–we’ll focus on the beauty and the river. Technically it’s a six-day trip, ending a few miles above the sea, but we’re planning one more night at the ocean in Gold Beach, where the Rogue enters the Pacific. And we’d like to invite you to join us for those last few miles as our personal guests in the boats. 

The 85-mile stretch of the Rogue as it passes through the Siskiyou Mountains from the Applegate River (day one) to Lobster Creek (our last river night) was one of the original Wild and Scenic River designations. It’s known for whitewater, scenery, great salmon and steelhead fishing, and one of America’s great whitewater river trips. 

We will meet and stay at the Riverside Inn overlooking the Rogue in downtown Grants Pass on the evening before the trip. We’ll board the dories the next morning, soon running out of the populated area through peppy riffles and rapids. We’ll stay at the Morrison Lodge near Galice that night. On day two we will enter the standard whitewater run at Graves Creek, line our boats around the notorious Rainie Falls, and spend the night at Black Bar Lodge. Day three puts us in the heart of the Rogue with lots of rapids, otters, and maybe some bears. We’ll see Zane Grey’s cabin and boat at Winkle Bar, tour the museum at the idyllic Rogue River Ranch, and stay a Marial Lodge. Day four we’ll run the gauntlet: a wild sluice ride though Mule Creek Canyon, followed by a highly technical run of Blossom Bar Rapid. We’ll pass Foster Bar where “normal” people leave the river. We won’t miss ’em. We’ll continue down to the confluence of the Illinois River for a night at Lucas Pioneer Lodge. 

On day five we’ll continue running rapids and riffles on down through Skookumhouse Canyon to Lobster Bar. There we’ll catch a ride up to Rogue River Lodge for the night. 

Although permitting says this technically ends our river trip, we’re inviting you to join us the following night at Gold Beach, where the Rogue flows into the sea. The canyon walls drop away to rolling hills, we exchange burbling side streams, rapids, and river otters for fog, tidal flows and the occasional curious seal. And finally , rounding one last bend, he unfathomable Pacific. Virtually zero river trips actually end at the sea, and we are thrilled to be doing so on one of the great rivers of the West. We’ll be staying at Ireland’s Rustic Lodges, in the tall trees on the beach.We’re planning a picnic dinner right on the ocean front to celebrate our voyage.

The following morning a shuttle will take you back to Grants Pass with a stop for a walk in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Whether you drove or flew, do whatever you can to schedule time after the trip to cruise the incredible coastal parks and redwoods. It is a very special part of the world.

Crew includes: Andy Hutchinson, boatbuilding doryman and banjo man extraordinarire, Kate Thompson, dory godess, vocalist and guitarist, RJ Johnson, doryman and geologist, Tim Cooper, doryman and racontuer, and  Brad Dimock, historian, doryman and writer. Did we mention there’ll be music, stories, and great comaraderie?  We do hope you can join us. Trip size is limited to fifteen lucky people, plus us five even luckier guides.

We will meet at the Riverside Inn in Grants Pass, Oregon, on the evening of August 15. We will return to Grants Pass from Gold Beach midday on August 21.

Cost and deposit details are still pending final approval by our outfitters. The electronic age has not yet reached them, which we take as a positive sign. Ball park: around $2400 including all lodging. A deposit of around $500 will be due by the end of January. Get in touch if you’re interested and we will keep you updated.  It looks like it will sell out immediately, so let us know if you want a timely update as soon as we get final numbers.