Why Do It NOW Takes On New Urgency: It's Time for That Dream River Trip

You're Too Old to Spend the Rest of Your Life on the Couch: Let's Adventure!

Photo by Jack Charles on Unsplash

Nature She is a-changing. If a Northwestern river is in your future, the time to go is now

Someone shouted BABY BEAR! I nearly fell out of the raft trying to locate the tiny creature, swiveling my head as we barrelled downstream on the mighty Rogue River.

Finally, there. A black dot with satellite dish ears, scrambling up the steep slope to mama, who was hidden by the dense brush.

Finally, on my third trip on this river, I got to see a bear. Two breaths later we were in the rapids and I was getting soaked. But I saw a baby bear.

Plenty more wildlife on this trip.

And a mink and deer and sunning turtles and green snakes and lions and tigers oh my!

It’s Southern Oregon.

It’s spring.

The great Rogue River is cold, pulsing and breaking high over the rocks. And I’m back.

When is it your turn?

This article explores two themes: the threats facing our Western rivers, and why you might want to seriously consider planning your rafting/outdoor trip sooner rather than later.

Pushing off for another day on the water

This past May I was on a guide training trip for Oregon River Adventures (ORE). The lead guides were prepping a new crop of young folks to take old folks like me out into the wild, whether it’s a hiking trip, bike excursion or my favorite, rafting.

I’ll share more about the guides in a moment, but first, to my title: do it now. Why?

-Federal lands are under siege, and the people who work on them are thin on the ground. This isn’t a political article, but politics will eventually affect whether or not your dream trip on an Oregon/Idaho river is even going to be possible.

-Even if Federal lands end up being protected, climate change, water mismanagement and overuse are affecting those rivers. Volume is dropping, which means that the amount of joyfully cold water gushing over the rocks may not offer you serious rafting enthusiasts that treasured Class IV or Class V thrill. At some point, the rivers may be so low, they aren’t navigable at all.

The great rivers of the American West are drying up. With diminished snowfall, longer droughts and poor management of our precious resources, many of our great rivers are likely to diminish and may even disappear.

Two years ago I was in a van driving north from Tucson to Phoenix. The last time I visited the Southwest, both the Santa Cruz (now a dry river bed) and the Gila were wide, healthy rivers. No more. The Gila is the most stressed of all America’s rivers right now.

These are just the facts, folks. Not fear-mongering. It’s why I am spending as much time on the rivers while I can, and urging you to consider doing the same.

I have multiple trips planned with ORE this year for good reason. I’m focusing on memories and experiences, which for my shrinking dollar is one of life’s finest investments.

The reason I am so sold on both rafting and ORE is that first, rafting is the most user- and age-friendly of all the big outdoor adventures. I’ve done my share of extreme adventure travel from kayaking the Arctic to skydiving to bungee jumping to paragliding to hiking huge mountains all over the world, all past sixty.

Rafting is one of the few extreme sports that even folks with disabilities can enjoy.

Second, ORE knows the elder traveler.

After heading out with ORE last year on three vastly different river trips, I got to see first-hand why Road Scholar entrusts this Portland-based company with so many of its excursions.* The guides understand us and are dedicated not only to our safety, but also to having the bestest trip ever.

Grandkids taking on the rapids on the Salmon

I took the Road Scholar Salmon River trip with ORE at the helm in midsummer last year. Two things I love about Road Scholar: they don’t dun you extra for being a single, and many trips welcome grandkids. There are few better ways to connect people than out in nature having a true adventure.

I’m going back out for another day trip on the Clackamas, which is chump change of a drive from Portland. For about a hundred ten bucks you get a day’s worth of badassery and are back home in time for pizza and bragging rights.

Nothing that Disney World offers can beat that, and I have worked at Walt Disney World. Besides, parking isn’t an issue out there, the food comes with the trip, and doesn’t cost you your kids’ college tuition for three hot dogs and a water.

I’ve got my sights set on trips for next spring as well, for the reasons stated above. The John Day river is on my list. The idea of spending some nine days in the wild is almost dreamlike.

ORE offers the longest of its multi-day trips on this lengthy, meandering, undammed river. I plan to take one of those longer trips if for no other reason than to see this land before the river won’t support rafting any more.

Right now, you can take kids as young as six on a long, wonderful exploration of mostly-calm waters for days on end, making this one of the best vacays from the fray imaginable on mostly calm, quiet waters.

At the other end of the scale, if you’re up for serious and unpredictable river adventure, look no further than Oregon’s own version of the Grand Canyon, the Owyhee.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Oregon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Owyhee River is one of those bucket list experiences. It’s on the menu for me next year, but only after I’d invested in a wetsuit and seriously warm scuba boots. It’s a long, long drive, but to hear about it from those who’ve done the trip, well worth the effort.

Here’s what to know about the Owyhee . It too is at risk, given changes to the BLM and other agencies who manage the area, and administration priorities.

Today the river is only navigable from March through late May, depending. It’s a guaranteed adventure, with the possibility of hot weather, hail, ice, snow and who knows what else- and plenty of exciting rapids.

For each of these rivers and many more, the window of opportunity is closing.

Who’s on the river with us?

Let’s get back to the Rogue trip this past May.

Early morning gear piles before loading the boats

I had the chance to accompany Ted Brownrigg, a 72-yo ORE lead guide on this trip. The crew featured a bunch of hopefuls, all under 32, who wanted on the ORE payroll. All had already been through multiple trainings. This was their final shot at selection.

While safety is a primary concern, so is sensitivity to the nuances of an older guest. My role was not only to observe and possibly make recommendations (if requested) but also to offer insight on what my cohort wants and expects. I'd recently had foot surgery, so my mobility was a bit compromised- a perfect test case for this crew.

I was impressed with the quality of the guides’ river skills. Rowing an equipment boat weighing 3000 lbs through roaring rapids, especially with guests on board, is no picnic. One wrong move and your boat can get hung up on rocks, endangering you, the gear and paying guests with a split second’s poor judgment.

For three days I rode with different candidates, heard their stories and listened to their delight when given the task of taking me down the river by themselves. That means they’d earned the lead guide’s trust. Or Ted really wanted me to take a swim.

Loading up takes plenty of time and care. That’s Ted on the right

Derek, prepared for the sun, and chuffed to be on the river

Guides work about 14-16 hours a day, from set up in the early am to dish washing late at night

Each guide brings something particular and special to the river, whether it’s a spidey sense about what’s fair when a group member misbehaves, instincts about the best line for their raft to get past the rocks, or to respectfully offer a hand to help you out of the raft without making you feel like an old lady.

In time and ideally, all the crew develops not only excellent water skills but also the customer service sensitivities that make folks want to come back again next year. They build their outdoor cooking expertise to legendary levels and create their own reputations and followings among the client base.

Here is where it all starts.

The last night we were on the river, Ted invited me to discuss a few topics relating to working with older folks that these young people likely hadn’t considered.

We discussed various scenarios, including what you might do if someone insists on doing something you know to be dangerously risky. I pointed out that perhaps the underlying theme to the elder experience on adventures is for them to maintain their dignity.

Safety, yes. Good food, of course. Yet for so many, our aging bodies can be a source of discomfort, embarrassment or even fear.

This group, all under 32, can’t yet relate. That’s why Ted, at 72, is so popular with the Road Scholar clients- they see themselves in him. He’s capable, confident, funny, and 72. That’s aspirational.

If you’ve never had to navigate a disease, a disability, the ravages of age or the realization that your body simply can’t do X any more, none of this is obvious.

One night the groover (our outdoor toilet) had been placed quite a ways out, necessitating a walk across river rocks, which I frankly couldn’t manage in soft rubber river shoes. I was wandering around trying to find the toilet holding tightly to a metal ammo box full of toilet paper while my feet were, frankly, having a very rude conversation with the rest of my body.

Yes, it was funny, yes I finally found the groover (it was in east Kansas), and yes I limped back laughing.

If you’ve never had bad feet, this doesn’t occur to you. That’s why having an oldster on the trip to point it out is so useful. Nothing is obvious to the uninformed.

Over the course of a long season, guides develop a heightened sensitivity to how to maintain safe boundaries. At the same time they invite older people to push a few of their own boundaries to find a new kind of fun and confidence in the wild.

It’s all about dignity, with a serious splash of joy.

That was a revelation. And the beginning of understanding.

Today, many of those guides are already on the river, taking guests out on their bikes or hikes with the sister business to ORE, Northwest Discoveries.

As Nature changes, and we must change with Her, the chance to get out and be in Her beauty is shifting.

Is it your time? Is it your turn?

Whatever you decide and wherever you decide to go do it, please,

Let’s play.

And while you’re at it, let’s also work to protect the lands we want future generations to play in.

Heading down to check out the rapids on a beautiful spring day

Thanks to all my subscribers and to all who read my work. I hope you’re inspired to get outside!

*For the sake of transparency, I am not an employee of ORE nor do I get paid for my endorsement. I do get my trips for free. That said, if I have a bad experience you’ll know about it.