July 14, 2005

Melodie Buell, in back, guides from left, Cameron Murphy, 9, Sandy Hoyt, Jim Hoyt and Cathryn Murphy on a half-day trip down the Rogue River through Noah’s River Adventures. The trip included two Class IV rapids that got everyone wet. Photos by Jennifer Margulis | For the Tidings

Rafting the Rogue is wet fun for families

By Jennifer Margulis
Tidings Correspondent

As Noah’s River Adventures’ white van tugging three bright orange rafts behind it pulls away from the plaza in downtown Ashland, I can’t help but wonder what I’ve gotten myself into. The van is filled with both tourists and locals — among them are Aimee Mason, a ski instructor in Reno, Nev., who is eager to get into the rapids, and her rather nervous husband Richard who keeps fingering his cigarette pack, fidgeting and making worried comments, as well as a handful of guides in training, and two of the company’s veterans: Ashlander Steve Walters who has been a rafting guide for 20 years, and the driver Ray Kocato, who sports sunglasses and an army camouflage knit cap.

Kocato and Walters explain that on our half-day trip on the Rogue River this morning we’ll conquer two Class IV rapids: the Golden Nugget and the Powerhouse. I used to like nothing better than a terrifying roller coaster ride or a downhill surge of speed on a mountain bike. But having three kids and being in my 30s has made me a little more circumspect. Why didn’t I sign up for Rogue River Scenic Float where the guide does all the paddling and, safely lifejacketed, the participants dangle their feet in the water and admire the wildlife?

Noah’s rafts are a familiar sight on the Plaza. The company offers half-day, full-day and three-day rafting trips.

“It’s team building,” says Steve Walters of why he loves working on the water. Walters claims he’s only capsized twice in 20 years. “You meet different people every day that are in your boat ... even if it’s a large confusing chaotic school trip, it all gets organized once it gets on the water.” Twenty-five-year-old Melodie Buell, a guide with bright red shorts and a long blonde ponytail, nods in agreement.

If the boat turns over, they tell us, point your feet down the river and float on your back. It’s quiet and cold under the water but the wet suit will keep you from getting hypothermia. And if you ride it out, the lifejacket will bring you back up to the surface in no time. Somehow that’s not entirely reassuring.

“We pull out and scout at the first rapids,” Walters explains. “Every individual has the opportunity not to do it. I will let the parents talk to their kids but I make sure it’s the child’s decision.” Noah’s is one of a handful of companies in southern Oregon and northern California that offer half-day, full-day, and three-day rafting trips at a variety of levels. Children ages 8 and older are welcome on many of the trips.

We drive past two wild turkeys and four deer and swing into a parking lot to pick up 9-year-old Cameron Murphy and his mother Catheryn Murphy, both of Arlington Heights, Ill. Cameron’s grandparents, Sandy and Jim Hoyt, who live in Deepo Bay, are coming along too. Three generations together in one boat makes today’s river rafting truly a family affair.

“Actually, I’m kind of scared,” says 9-year-old Cameron as the van bumps down a gravel road and we’re at the put-in. He has a light brown crew cut and an honest face. “I’m scared of, like, falling out of the boat or something, or going over a really steep thing.”

By the time we are all suited up, buckled and snapped and shod, excitement takes precedence over fear. And as we practice commands and safety techniques on the rippling open river, I feel sorry I left my oldest daughter behind this time.

We float through some riffles. “A riffle is sparkling water,” says Walters, “just water beginning to sparkle—that’s a rifle.” And too soon we’re at the first Class IV rapid. It helps to see Melodie, who has Cameron and his family in her raft, guide her boat safely through.

Then it’s our turn.

The water rushes angrily around the raft as Walters barks commands. We paddle furiously forward, icy water sloshing into the boat and onto our faces, and then we grab the side of the raft and hold on. The raft drops precipitously. This is more fun than any rollercoaster I’ve ever been on. In a few seconds it’s over and the water is quiet again. But I can’t wait for the next one.

When the trip is over and we are hauling the rafts out at Gold Hill, we’re all soaking wet and grinning. “Fabulous, I’ve always loved being on the water. ... You just go with the flow. I had confidence in the guide, that makes a big difference,” says Sandy Hoyt.

“It was cool, fun,” agrees Cameron. “If you have the wet suit you don’t really get that wet.” His favorite, he says, was the second Class IV rapid we tackled, called the Powerhouse. “It was like a double one. You went down a little bit and then again … it was pinballish.”

Cameron’s ready for another trip. “It’s something you can do over again, it’s really cool,” he says. I am too. And next time I’ll bring my daughter.

Noah’s half-day trips cost between $59 and $79 and include a snack. Full-day trips range in price from $109-$149 depending on the river and the season. For more information on trips leaving from the Plaza, contact Noah’s River Adventures (www.noahsrafting.com or (800) 858-2811) or Adventure Center (www.raftingtours.com or (800) 444-2819).