Raft & Craft – Day 3
Aug 10, 2010 Celebration Worthy, Events, Good People
dining room at Marial Lodge
July 20th – Day 3 and the final day of our inaugural Raft & Craft trip.
Dawn came again gently after a full nights sleep at Marial Lodge. We were at breakfast by 8 for a day of about 16 miles, through a canyon and much sunshine. Good bacon at breakfast only enhanced the day!
Off we went to get on the river by 9 am. The day felt chilly to start as we went through some striking narrow canyons for the first while. Completely different and we heard some good stories as we all rode. There are pretty of serious rapids, Blossom and Coffee Pot among them, which has WWW making sure everyone is safely on board the pontoon rafts. No sense taking foolish chances with Mother Nature.
Rogue River
This re-solidified the excellent and wise experience of Bob & Guy for the benefit of their guests. We all felt safe the whole time – which of course only makes the trip that much more enjoyable (and recommendable).
By midday lunch stop, we’d seen lots of turtles, plenty of other traffic including the jet boats on tour, and several other rafting parties. A few areas of still(er) water had Bob and Guy using the oars more to move us along.
Lunch was generous again with BLT’s – mmmmm! – and more fresh fruit and veggies. On the river again after a bite to finish the float.
Landing safely around 145ish (no watch on), Bob & Guy easily navigated us to a ramp, where we all proceeded to unload and unpack. After all the fanfare of that, the rafts were loaded on the trailer,
pontoon rafts safely loaded up
some of the guests said goodbye and headed off, and we climbed into the truck to drive back over the pass to Galice, where cars were parked upon our launching.
The road over the pass is rather dramatic and closed in the winter for good reason – it rises from 90 feet above sea level to over 5000! And I couldn’t help but think - “what a great ride this’d be on a snowmobile!” Anyway, just shy of 2 hours later, we slid into Galice, gathered gear and bid adieu.
What a spectacular trip! Ultra hospitable, safe, fun, refreshing, tasty, energizing and now I can’t wait for next year.
Thanks to Ninkasi & Russian River for great beers
Thanks to Joy & Bob, Guy and guests for allowing me to share those 3 delightful days with them.
Life is good.
Tags: adventure, departure, Raft & Craft trip, White Water Warehouse
Raft & Craft Trip – Part 1
Aug 6, 2010 Beer, Beer & Food, Events, Good People
Prepping the sturdy and stable pontoon rafts
July 18th
Gorgeous day dawns in Southern Oregon. Okay, well, it was really beautiful – partially because we were all looking forward to it as well. Funny how it’s as ‘nice’ as you want it to be.
I got up and drove to meet Bob and Guy at the Rand boat launch for the inaugural White Water Warehouse and Women Enjoying Beer Raft & Craft Trip. When I arrived they were both occupied preparing the 2 pontoon rafts, setting up equipment, gear, coolers, and so on. Practiced hands to be sure – they’ve been at this since 1983.
The guests began arriving at 9 am and everyone exchanged introductions. After our own bags were dry bagged and packed on board, Bob gave us a safety talk and we were off!
Lunching it up - Day 1
Down the lovely and very scenic Rogue River. That first morning, 3 of us experienced the trip at water level in inflatable kayaks. All life jacketed up, we floated along and had an ideal first morning.
Oh – and I started the trip Dunkers Club, going over twice – kerplunk! The key to kayaking, I learned, is to head straight into waves; being 90 degrees to them is how you’ll make it through them. The water, I’m here to tell you, was lovely and felt great in combination with a strong sun.
The river was also deep enough in most places to safely be in the river, legs dangling below you, with no fear of scraping. The tough part is getting back into the kayaks with a bulky (and important) life jacket. Once again, Bob & Guy are smart veterans who help guide you the entire trip so you are totally at ease and able to fully enjoy the adventure.
Tumultuous Rainey Falls
We put in at Rainey Falls for lunch where Bob and Guy proceeded to efficiently unpack and set up. It was obvious right away no would go hungry unless they simply didn’t eat! Fresh foods and plenty of it - cucumbers, hummus, blueberries, cherries, sandwiches (meat, tomatoes, trimmings, PBJ), pasta salad and lots of other stuffs. Lemonade and water to quench our thirst and restock the water bottles, a nice view to enjoy during the midday meal and a cloudless sky to gaze at. Tough job….
After repacking up and heading into the current again, we traveled a while more, with a stop at a water fall with a spot deep enough to cannon ball into – which some of us did following Bob’s lead!
Back into the current we go towards Black Bar Lodge, our accommodations for the night. We landed peacefully, everyone happily intact, around 5pm. After a quick group unload, we headed to our charming cabins, showered up and met in the lodge for the first beer tasting and pairing - 1 of 2 for the trip.
Craft Beer - the "Craft" part of the trip
This being the first time WWW & WEB have collaborated, it went off with much success. The lodge is comfortable, we had three courses and the very happy guests and gracious hosts all had a good time.
Ninkasi was our featured beer partner. And I couldn’t resist also featuring a Russian River beer each night too.
The menu the first night looked like this:
- Ninkasi Total Domination IPA paired with a robust blue cheese
- Ninkasi Radiant Ale with fresh mangoes and deep red plums
- Russian River Consecration paired with Dagoba chocolates (super fruit and Roseberry)
Mmmmmmmm! Lots of great questions and comments came from the group, we all polished off a few (taster) glasses of the beers and savored the foods.
Inside my Black Bar Lodge cabin
Needless to say, they were then really excited about the next nights treats!
After dinner, Bob shared some entertaining stories about the river, lodge and area folk which was totally relaxing. As if we weren’t relaxed enough! A little more conversation flowed and with the sun going slowly down, we all bade good night to each other after given our time to regroup for tomorrow and headed out to our cabins.
It didn’t take long for camp to be silent save for the deer and birds settling in around us. Lights out at 10 as the generators got turned off for the night.
To bed. Ahhhhh….
Day 2 – tomorrow.
Tags: adventure, beer pairings with food, Ninkasi, Raft & Craft trip, Rogue River, Russian River, White Water Warehouse
A Call From Joy
Aug 5, 2010 Beer, Celebration Worthy, Events, Good People
And what a call it was!
Joy & Ginger - raring to go!
Joy Henkle, White Water Warehouse, called me on a random (to me) day in May. She had found my site and was looking for interesting topics and people to write about.
She got ‘interesting’ (!) and we connected almost instantly. Thankful I am for her reaching out. Because one thing quickly lead to another and we put our heads together to hatch the inaugural Raft & Craft trip – fabulous white water rafting paired with delicious craft beer tastings at days end.
Brilliant Joy!
Joy and her Husband, Bob Meister, own and operate White Water Warehouse, a very competent class rafting company based out of Corvallis OR, one of the heart beats of the Hops industry in Oregon.
The trip went off smoothly July 18th – 20th with a great group of folks including very gracious guides and hosts – Bob and Guy.
The next three days will be the story of our trip from where I sat on the raft.
Enjoy the read – and know that there are more of these trips on tap for 2011. It’s a great time to plan now for a glorious adventure next year.
Tags: adventure, Raft & Craft trip, Rogue River, White Water Warehouse
What To Do
Jun 10, 2010 Beer, Events, Good People
Ready for a great trip on the Rogue?
Well, one answer is to enjoy it (was there a question of what to do with your time??). Period.
- Work – if it’s enjoyable absolutely qualifies.
- Recreation – yes.
- Solitude – whatever works for you.
One thing that makes life and all the people in it fun for me is to be adventurous. Joy is one of those people who have swooped in and made it that much more engaging and fun. She is her name.
We’re throwing this trip for all adventure goers – fresh air enthusiasts, livers, and doers. You can get details here.
We’d love to meet you and enjoy the adventure together.
p.s. great beer included
Tags: adventure, living, Ninkasi Brewing, raft trip, White Water Warehouse
