Beyond the Rat 2008

13 July - 18 July

13 July – We got to the LZ around 1015 (after a stop at Ruch store to buy yogurt for our granola) just as the shuttle was about to take a couple of guys up to mid-launch. We hooked up with Christian, a tandem pilot, and his passenger/student and a driver, so we drove the Trooper up. There were quite a few folks up on launch including Gail and Mike Hailey who was taking a girl tandem for her birthday. A number of people launched early but we waited around until it was clearly soarable and then launched about 1250. After landing in the LZ, I drove over to Longsword Winery to pickup C.J.. We stuck around for some cold water and then the wine tasting. After buying a bottle of chardonnay, we drove out to Applegate Lake and had lunch on the far side of the dam at French Gulch (?) trailhead. Then we drove back around to the other shore and found a rocky beach near a boat launch for a swim in the relatively warm water. On the way back to the yurt we stopped at the Ruch store to get a piece of meat and some potato salad for dinner, and milk and raisin bran for breakfast. We had a good stir fry with carrots and a green pepper.

14 July – It was a bit warmer last night, i.e. we didn’t need the quilt on top of the down comforter. After breakfast we drove in to Jacksonville to see the quilt show. Instead, we stopped in the quilt shop and talked to Marge, the owner for quite a while. Afterwards we wandered through several of the eclectic shops and skipped the quilt show itself. A gas price site on the Web indicated that the cheapest gas around was in Medford at Costco (What a surprise!) so we drove in, got gas and a Costco lunch and returned in time to see Debbie ? landing her Summit 3 at the LZ. Montana had landed earlier so we spent some time talking to them before heading over to chat with Gail for a while at HQ. C.J. spread out her wing in the basement to change a frayed line but had misplaced the line so we’ll have to do that some other time. We stopped at the Ruch Country Store and bought a roasted chicken for dinner, stopped to look at a place to get wet along the river, then returned to Humbug. It was too hot to go in the yurt so we set up our chairs and read in the shade until it was cooler and time for dinner (the chicken had stayed nice and hot in the roof case on the car). At some point in the afternoon, a big wave of smoke from the fires down in California arrived and turned the sun dark red. After dinner and a shower we walked over to talk to Teri and got Barbara’s arrival time at the airport for pickup tomorrow.

15July, Tuesday – It was still smoky in the morning (In fact, a car horn had sounded for what seemed like several minutes during the night and we wondered if it was the signal for an evacuation due to a nearby fire. Guess not since there is no fire nearby today). We decided not to fly today, although we saw someone landing around 1045. The volunteer at the Ruch Tourist Info place (one of the guys who had been providing lunch at launch) gave us some ideas about other things to do and we headed up to Applegate Lake again. We stopped at McKee Bridge which is a restored 1917 covered bridge with an adjacent picnic area – looks like a good swimming/wading place except for the cold water. Continuing up the road we stopped at the trailhead for the Collings Mtn. Trail where there was a nest with two young ospreys which the mama osprey was trying to convince to take their first flight. After observing for a while, we took the trail up about a mile to where some students had constructed a Bigfoot Trap back in the 70’s – thick planks bolted to large posts and fitted with a steel drop gate. Next we drove to the end of the lake and took a gravel road along the east shore to a good lunch spot. Applegate Lake is pretty quiet on weekdays. Our final exploration was back across the dam and about 8 miles up the washboard road to Squaw Lakes. We walked the mile or two around the lake past all the walk-in campsites stopping for a swim in the relatively warm water. By then we were on schedule to get to the airport and pick up Barbara Summerhawk (Yates) who was arriving back from Japan. We would actually have been early but we made a detour at a gelato place in Jacksonville and got to Barbara after she had already picked up her checked luggage. On the way back we stopped at the Ruch Store so Barbara could buy some basic foods for the next few days. Then we raided Teri’s garden for salad ingredients and had a great supper of roast chicken, bread and salad.

16 July, Wednesday – After our usual breakfast we got together with Barbara around 1030 and drove up Woodrat, leaving her truck in the LZ. We all flew in the beautifully blue sky with a sprinkling of cumulus clouds. Barbara had a quick flight to the LZ while C.J. got pretty high and I managed to get a few hundred over launch. I sank out after 20 minutes (?) or so and asked Barbara if she would fly again if we all went back up. She thought she would, so I asked C.J. to land and we all went back up in her little Toyota pickup. By now there were stronger cycles but Barbara eventually launched. She was down quite a bit before we got the cars back to the LZ because it was indeed pretty strong for her. We picked up some cold drinks and stuff at the store and then went to the Cantrall-Buckley picnic area along the river. Barbara had made sandwiches for us from last night’s chicken so we had a good lunch. Then C.J. and Barbara braved the cold water of the Applegate and rode the swift water through a chute under the bridge. It was too cold for me but I got cooled off anyway. Back at the store we picked up some ice and another baguette and went back to the yurt to prepare a picnic dinner to take to the RVHPA meeting out at the Purcell goal LZ (at the owner’s house, Phil ___). The meeting was interesting and one decision made was to commission C.J. to make a t-shirt quilt for the senior Hunters, owners of the Woodrat LZ. A couple of the paraglider pilots (?) and Jim Tibbs on his HG landed at or near the meeting site after launching from Woodrat. On the way back Barbara stopped at Terri’s and found that her missing quilt was safely stored there. It looks like we are going to get to do a raft trip on the Rogue River tomorrow with Geoff and Terri. Maybe we can fly the glassoff later. The Lakeview trip seems less and less likely as Ginny is convinced that it will be smoky and C.J. is leaning toward going home to the garden anyway.

17 July, Thursday – Around 1100 Barbara, C.J. and I in our car, and Geoff and Dan in another, drove through Grants Pass to Galice on the Rogue River below Hellgate. Barbara and Geoff arranged the rental of a raft, paddles, PFD’s and the shuttle return ($65 + $5 per person for a half day). We put in just below the store and ran several small riffles and saw a bear on the bank just before Chair Rapid. Going down Chair with Dan in the rudder position we got turned sideways and went into a hole behind a rock. Dan was catapulted out of the boat and we chased him downstream. He disappeared beneath the surface at one point but managed to get to the bank on his own. We caught the paddle and his hat but his glasses slipped off and were gone. The rest of the float was fun but not as exciting. We stopped at a narrow spot with high rocks on either side, and C.J. and Barbara jumped off the 15-ft high rocks into the river. As the afternoon progressed the wind up the river increased and we had to paddle more. The takeout point at Graves Creek (just above the class 3 rapid) was marked by the only bridge across the river below Hellgate. Beyond this point the Rogue is restricted to 120 people per day (60 reserved for commercial float outfitters) and is known as the Wild and Scenic Rogue River. It took us about 4 hrs to cover the seven miles from Galice to Graves Creek. The Galice Resort shuttle took us back to the store where we spread out our wet stuff in our cars and headed back. When I stopped for gas at the Arco in Grants Pass ($4.17) I couldn’t find my wallet. C.J. eventually found it for me in my tote bag where I had already looked – don’t look for dark items in a black bag while wearing sunglasses. We picked up some sparkling water and Umpqua ice cream at Ray’s in Murphy and went to dinner at Teri and Geoff’s. She made a delicious pasta dish with angel hair and a cream sauce, chicken and veggies.

18 July, Friday – We slept in until almost 0900 then went in to see if the Ruch library had internet access – it was open only Tue, Thu, and Sat. We used the grassy area in front however to replace C.J.’s frayed brake line. C.J. called Kevin Lee about the broken switch on her PTT and found out that he was still returning from Seaside, CA but would leave a replacement switch on his porch tomorrow. After a cold drink stop at the Ruch Store, we drove in to Medford following the GPS to Big 5 where I returned my broken Field and Stream watch and got a Swiss watch replacement for $5. We also bought a couple of pool floats for use on Applegate Lake later. We stopped at Bank of America to use the ATM ($60) then went to Costco for cereal, bread, guacamole and skin care products. We also bought a half-dozen nectarines at a fruit stand. The rest of the afternoon we spent at the Copper boat launch at Applegate Lake. We met Barbara and a bunch of locals for the “glassoff” around 1800 but didn’t launch from “Mid” until 1900 when the wind had moderated some. I managed to get up over the upper launch with two other pilots but everyone soared for as long as they wanted. By the time we were packed up it was almost 2100 and when we went to the Magnolia Grill intending to buy Barbara’s dinner, it was already closed. The owner felt sorry for us and gave us a big bag of good rolls so, with those and some salads that Barbara had, we had a pretty good dinner in the yurt.