Rafting down the Rogue River

At the very end of August 2003, my Dad and I went with some friends on a rafting trip down the Rogue River. It was a highly exciting adventure, and to date it is my only experience with rafting.

From what I remember, the journey began at a rafting place in a town called Shady Cove, in Southern Oregon. A bus ride took us, others wanting to raft, and the rafts themselves to a starting point a few miles further up the river. Once there everyone readied themselves and their boats, but when we put our raft into the water, it turned out it was only suited for six people, and we had eight in our group. Despite this, we rafted anyway, with almost everyone sat on the sides, and our supplies in the boat itself. What fun this was going to be!

The raft ride was amazing, and I was pleased at being able to use an oar for a short while on the trip: at first, I remember being concerned when we went near rocks and rapids in case we hit a rock/got knocked by the rapids, and when we got splashed by the water, but once you've been past them a couple of times, you look forward to the next time. As we rafted we passed through heavily forested areas (of the surrounding landscape), parts with houses along the banks, and minor forks in the river. It was sunny and warm out, so the weather was excellent all day.

There was one moment where we did hit a rock, and the boat went spinning: when this happened, one of our friends fell into the boat, and another one fell off. Being distracted by the person falling in the boat, and us trying to control the raft, it took us about a minute to notice that he had fallen off. We got him back in the raft, and no one was hurt: instead, everyone was laughing.

What added to the fun was that we could bring our super-soakers, as a couple of our friends had brought their own water guns along. Not long after we began our journey down the Rogue River, I made great use of all water weapons on board the raft, and it was thanks to me that our raft got into multiple water fights with other boats on the river. Even better, due to my own position on the boat (I was sat on the back, and taller people than I were sat near me), it was very difficult for other boaters to hit me with their own water guns: I would soak other boats, but when they fired back, the other people on our boat got hit, not me. I actually got hit when a couple of people on our boat used our own weapons to soak me for all the times they'd got wet from others. Still, it was all harmless at the end of the day, and great fun.

The voyage ended in the early evening after at least five hours on the river at a docking area for rafts close to Shady Cove, and another bus ride took us back to the rafting place itself. I won't forget the raft ride down the Rogue River, and it is definitely what I would call a "perfect day": it remains my best-ever water-related adventure.