Rafting

Rogue

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This month I’m continuing to post about my trip up to British Columbia.

The Rogue River in Oregon is iconically wild & scenic, one of the original ones named in the 1968 Wild & Scenic River Act. And folks have found various ways of enjoying it. I dreamt of paddling trips ever since watching the River Wild, but I’m always either too early or too late. With the warmer climate, I think they should start paddling tours by May 1st, if not earlier. The alternative was to take a jet boat, either from near Hellgate Canyon above or from Gold Beach. But I just couldn’t stand the idea of burning all that carbon, so I decided to drive along the edge stopping at overlooks, like the one below.

The Rogue and its tributaries define the popular southeast corner of Oregon. From its headwaters around Crater Lake creeks from Ashland and the Cascade-Siskiyou Mountains add to it before the river runs through the historic city of Grants Pass, where there’s a mini powerboat fest on the river on Memorial Day weekend. (Again, I think the river should be enjoyed without the noise of machines.) Then the Applegate River with its wine trail and the Illinois River from Oregon Caves join the Rogue before it emerges at Gold Beach on the Pacific.

The middle section of the Rogue has no road access for ~35 miles, and unfortunately some of the trails were closed due to serious forest fire damage in this protected area. I would like to return for a long paddling trip someday, but meanwhile I enjoyed meandering back roads and exploring the rest of the scenic canyons and river valleys.

The Umpqua River also begins near Crater Lake, so I also drove the Rogue Umpqua Scenic Byway, which goes past the Upper Rogue’s Gorge & Natural Bridge and the North Umpqua’s Watson Falls, two of many spectacular sights. The North Umpqua River is also designated as wild & scenic, while the lower Umpqua is less wild with calmer water but still a very beautiful part of the scenic byway.

Here are my visits to all NPS park units in Oregon.

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve

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The bridge over the gorge is huge; it’s one of the highest in the world and the largest single arch bridge in the western hemisphere. I took some nice pictures of it, when I drove the old Fayetteville Station Road and crossed on the old one lane bridge. Some of the commercial raft trips end there, and it’s fun to watch them take their last rapid. The most crowded part of the park is the Canyon Rim Visitor Center near the bridge, where many folks stop to have ice cream or picnic.

But the bridge is not the point of the park. The New River watershed is huge and very old. It starts in North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Parkway, includes the Bluestone and Gauley scenic rivers, and flows up to the Kanawha which is a major tributary into the Ohio River. The photo above shows folks fishing at Sandstone Falls, far upstream of the famous bridge. It’s a lovely spot with plenty of birds, an easy hike and a boardwalk.

The point is that the whole area was ruined by coal mining. This was the land of John Henry, if you know the old song about a railroad tunnel dug here. Now coal is more expensive than renewable energy, and many of the mines here have closed, becoming ‘exhibition mines’—fascinating tour in Beckley—, historic sites or slowly forgotten. A few coal trains still run through the gorge, but the park is now protected and recovering. Tourism generates more income and jobs now, and West Virginia is one of the most beautiful states in the US. The park is proof that we can change and improve. The point is that we can choose to save nature, instead of destroying it, and that it’s never too late to start trying.

Well every Monday morning
When the bluebirds begin to sing
You can hear John Henry a mile or more
You can hear John Henry’s hammer ring, Lord, Lord
 You can hear John Henry’s hammer ring

—A folk song

Here are my visits to all parks in West Virginia.