'Right-Click' to view full-size image map

12:26pm Launch from Almeda Bar

P5120002a

P5120003a

Zooming in on a perched Bald Eagle

Surfing at the bottom of Grave Creek

Grave Creek lunch stop.
Named after the grave of Martha Leland Crowley, daughter of a pioneer couple. Martha was buried under an oak tree near the creek in 1846.²

P5120007a

Approaching Rainie Falls

Jim thru Dory Chute

Neil and Sandy thru Dory Chute

P5120011a

Al and Linda thru Dory Chute

P5120013a

Regroup below Rainie Falls
The falls were named after old man Rainie who lived in a small cabin below the falls and made a living by gaffing salmon.²

Rainie Falls close-up

P5120016a

P5120017a

Ray below Lower Black Bar Falls

Friendy Bambi at Black Bar Lodge.
Black Bar is named after William Black who was killed here, put into his boat, and shoved into the river by his assailant. The lodge was built in 1932 and is open from April through mid-November.²

Wisteria outside Black Bar Lodge

Day 2 - preparing to depart from Black Bar Lodge at 9:47am

P5130023a

Jim thru Horseshoe Bend

P5130025a

Waterfowl close-up

P5130027a

Vulture in flight

Vulture close-up

Above Battle Bar³

Al at Battle Bar tourist stop.
Named because of a fight between Colonel Kelsey's calvary on the north bank and a band of Takelma Indians on the south bank.
After the massacre of Indian families on Little Butte Creek, hostile elements broke out of the Table Rock Reservation on October 9, 1855 (Little Butte Creek and Table Rock Reservation are located near what is now Medford). The Indians traveled down the north side of the Rogue, killing settlers and burning dwellings.
Fighting between the whites and the Indians extended as far downriver as Grave Creek until winter weather stopped the campaign.
The Indian families spent the winter near Battle Bar. In April of 1856, a detachment of soldiers was sent to the area to eliminate the Native Americans. The soldiers rode into the large clearing on the north side of the river and were promptly engaged in battle with the Indians who had abandoned their camp for the protection of the bar on the south side. Though not a major battle, it was one of the skirmishes which led to the extraction of American Indians from the Rogue River country.
Bob Fox built a cabin on the south side of the river. Bob had planned a fishing resort but was unable to complete it because Jack Mahoney, a neighbor, shot and killed Fox on May 6, 1947. The 1964 flood destroyed the walls of the cabin but the roof and supports remained. In 1991, the BLM and the White City Veterans Administration Domiciliary refurbished the shelter.²

Ray naps thru the Battle Bar stop

Zane Grey (Winkle Bar) tourist stop #2.
Western writer Zane Grey bought the mining claim for this site from a prospector in 1926. Grey then had his cabin built and used it for a place to stay while he was fishing and writing. Winkle Bar was purchased from Zane Grey's heirs and remains private property.²

P5130033a

P5130034a

The Sweetheart Tree

P5130036a

Lunch stop below Mule Creek

Mule Creek

Into Mule Creek Canyon

P5130040a

P5130041a

P5130042a

The Narrows

Al and Linda below Narrows

Stair Creek Falls

Blossom Bar scout

P5130050a

Lining up for Devils Stairs

P5130052a

Note left side curler. While most decided to follow the right "V", I decided to play in the curler and wash body parts....

Neil and Sandy at Paradise Creek

Letting down the luggage tram

Older lodge next to the main Paradise Lodge

Day 3 - Once again we claimed squatter's rights in the new Garden House

We occupied the entire near side of the building

Heading for morning coffee...

Breakfast at main lodge

Deak's Peak in background

Starting up the trail

Looking upriver, below Blossom

Madrone tree. Also my room name where I stayed.

Looking at Lodge from Deak's

Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or Prairie-fire

"Verification" photo. Thanks Ray!

P5140068a

Still some snow in the distance

Afternoon relaxation and shade at the Garden House³

Leaving the front gate open lets the cows in for grazing and leaving souvenirs

Twilight Bambis

More Bambis

Day 4 - loading up the luggage cart for departure

Bringing tram up for loading

Sandy and Ray wisely walk down

Riding down on the tram

My 12'6" cat next to Al's 16' JTABAB

10:06am departure from Paradise

Jet boat that brings weekly supplies upriver

Tourist stop #3. The General's Cabin at East Creek.
This is the site of the former "General's Cabin" owned by Generals Eakers, Spaatz, LeMay, Anderson, and Twining. The land was sold to the group by Wooldridge as a former mining claim. Glen was one of the first Rogue River guides. He guided from 1917 to the 1970s. Wooldridge ran the first successful upriver trip in 1947, from Gold Beach to Grants Pass.²

Most of group photo at chimney remains

P5150082a

P5150083a

More Madrone

P5150085a

P5150086a

Loking over the edge down to East Creek

P5150088a

The "general's stairs"

Tate Creek Waterfalls.
About 200 yards up the creek is a natural water slide that drops 25 feet into a deep fresh pool.²

Loking upstream from bridge

...and downstream

Hiking upstream from bridge

Didn't feel like a wet moss rock scramble to get to water slide. Easier later in summer.

Jet boat buzzes by during lunch

Clay Hill Still falls

P5150097a

Flora Dell.
The creek is named after Flora Dell Thomas, Hathaway Jones' wife. Hathaway Jones (1870-1937) was a local packer, mail carrier and story teller. Flora Dell Creek plunges over a 30 foot sheer wall into a deep trailside pool.²

2:18pm - Foster Bar take-out.
Named after Charles Foster, miner, packer and lieutenant in the military during the Indian wars. Foster escaped an Indian attack at this site and worked his way downriver to Port Orford (then Fort Orford). After the Indian wars Foster returned to settle in this area and married Catherine (a Karok Indian).²

Most of group photo. Jim took off already and Sandy took photo³

Sometimes river trips are about the clothing souvenirs. Al provided the embriodered micro-fleece from WingedStitches.com. Thanks Al! I also "needed" a Paradise/Blossom Bar replacement T-shirt

USGS Flow at Grants Pass 05/12/2010 12:00 PDT 2.38 2,670 CFS 11.7 DegC (53F)

USGS Flow at Agness 05/12/2010 12:00 PDT 4.49 4,790 CFS 11.8 DegC (53F)