Rogue River 2012

Here we are at put-in.

The Ballanti Group Photo

Cook Crews

We form into 5 cook crews on a 6 day trip.  We are only responsible for cook for one day.  The rest of the time we play.  We had amazing cook crews and outstanding food.  We ate Salmon, Filet Mignon, Chicken Ceasar Salad, Pasta and Fajitas for dinner. Obviously, for me, food is a big deal.  Notice that we still wear our river apron.  It has been with us for many years.

Cook Crew 1

Cook Crew 2

Cook Crew 3

Cook Crew 4

Cook Crew 5

Monsoon Wedding Costume Night

We had a blast dressing up and then dancing to the Indian music provided by Diane.  Dress up night is always a favorite.  The Monsoon Wedding theme is in honor of Laurel and Ananda's upcoming wedding.



We presented Ananda with 3 Elephants as a dowry.  Their names are Steve, Tiny and Mr. Garfunkle

Laurel and Ananda

Diane's costume is finalized by the in-house Indian putting a bead on her forehead.

Mark Dubois- looking like a true native

Howard Wendy Stasha & Drew - a fine looking crew

Oscar and Owen - aren't they lovely

The Wong - they are always clowning around

Mr. Stone - in all his wisdom

Mady and Tony - you should see them dance

Ann & Irwin - dressed to the nines

Diane even does a costume change for loading her boat.  Don't you love it!

Fish Ladder - Rainie Falls by pass

Rainie is Laurel's middle name, so I always think about her when we hit this rapid.  The fish ladder is exciting and it is a great way to by-pass the class 5 Rainie Falls. 

DB at the top of the fish ladder

Drew & Stasha

Howard

Wendy

Mark & Diane

Irwin & Ann

Tony & Laurel

Here are Laurel and Ananda with Rainie Falls in the background.  They had to hike back up the train to get to this spot.  The falls looks easy from here, but it's not. 

 

Blossom Bar Rapid

This is a one of the bigger rapids on the river. It's full of rock and has to be scouted. A commerical group that followed us though this rapid got stuck on a rock and was there for 3 hours trying to get off. We are thankful that our expert group of rafters had no problem.  Please note that our boat and the Wong's boat did not have pictures this rapid. The Wong were just too fast and I was the photographer.


Tony with Laurel and Ananda

Tony with Laurel and Ananda



Mark and Diane

Mark and Diane



Irwin and Ann

Irwin and Ann



Howard and Wendy in IK's

Wendy

Howard



Drew & Stasha

Drew and Stasha

SLEEPING

You probably wonder what we do on a 6 day river trip. It isn't all rafting and hiking.  Some people prefer to be in their relax mode.  Here are just a few of the sleeping pictures that I took.

 River Bocci Ball

Here is another activity that entertained us on the river.  Drew and Stasha clearly had the bocci ball skills.  But, everyone had fun playing.

Just hanging around the river

Some of our group love to cross the river and jump in.  Others of us like to sit on the shore and take pictures of them or float in our tubes.  Some liked to claim a rock known as Freelandia and just hang out.  It was all fun.  Jumping took place at Horseshoe Bend Camp.  These are just some of the 700 pictures that I had to choose from to post.  What a wonderful trip.  We have been rafting since the 70's and some will continue to raft until they can't.  I on the other hand have claimed this to be my last river trip.  But, then I have been reminded that this is the third time I have claimed a river trip to be my last. 

Howard

Wendy

Diane

Drew

More relaxing - playing in the sand

Tony cruising at Horseshoe Bend

 

Laurel and Ananda playing in the kayaks



Mark and Diane sitting on "Freelandia"



Mike and Oscar play with Mr. Alligator

Nature - We observed that too!

Drew and Stasha find a Geo-Cache.  They put Mr. Garfunkle, one of the dowry elephants in that Cache.

More Nature - what are they doing?

Lots of beautiful small plants on this trip

Irwin and Tony loving their morning coffee

Ananda expresses his love for Carol

We spent plenty of time loading our boats for the next day.

Laurel and Ananda at another waterfall

Did I mention that we relaxed a lot

Can anyone guess who these fine shoes belong to?

Yes, Laurel managed to convert Ananda to River Rafting.  It's a good life!