Mountain Buzz banner

Rogue River 9,000 - 10,000 cfs

4K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Croghan 
#1 ·
Looking for some info regarding the river characteristics on the Rogue (wild and scenic section) at 9-10k cfs? Planning a trip for May 4-6 with my 14' NRS... what are Mule Creek Canyon and Blossom Bar like, camps, anything else? Thanks in advance..

Cheers!
 
#2 ·
That's a great flow, generally easy and not nearly as technical as lower flows. Rainie Falls main drop is still there and still big, but fish ladder has enough water in it that you can actually row it using oars. Blossom Bar easy right or left (picket fence washed out). Mule Creek Canyon is strong and pushy but much wider at high flow so easier to maneuver. All the side creeks will be running strong and beautiful! Ticks will be abundant so be mindful of that. Enjoy!
 
#3 ·
Ticks are abundant right now. If you plan on any hiking, even on the trails, ticks are the worst I've ever seen on the Rogue this year. Just scouting the canyon from the trail, I was picking 4 or 5 ticks off me every hundred yards. I hope this is just their season and it will get better as the summer comes on.
At 10,000cfs you can paddle right up to the pool above staircase falls and there are only two rocks above water at Blossom Bar. There are some nasty keeper holes there at that flow, but should be easily avoidable.
 
#4 ·
It will be a quick trip at that level. I don't think it will be quite that high. We are launching on the 12th of May and I am looking forward to seeing what rapids like Wildcat, upper black bar falls and quiz show will be like. The holes on some of those get bigger when flows go up while rapids like blossom bar wash out.

You can launch at Galice or even at Ennis at that level to give you a few more rapids and extend the trip. We like to rig everything at Galice and walk up to the restaurant and have breakfast.

If it is raining hard, I like battle bar and Rogue River Ranch/Mule Creek camps. Battle Bar has a shelter and some areas to pitch tents that are in the large trees. The camp on the upstream side of Mule creek has some large trees that help shelter you from the rain. Both have toilets and Rogue River Ranch has a little museum of sorts which is worth a look if you haven't seen it. Both are popular with Mule Creek having room for several groups.

I can't think of what camps might provide shelter on the upper part. Little Windy Creek might. It had a toilet not sure if it is still open. The BLM is no longer digging new pits so when the toilets are used up they are being decommissioned.

Post pics and videos of your trip.
 
#6 ·
For the sake of clarification I was talking about the flow rate as measured by the Grants Pass Gauge.

I do not know what gauge most people use. The folks I raft with generally refer to the GP gauge so that is what I was thinking. It looks like you are looking at the Agness gauge?

That said it looks like you will be hitting the river at about 5,000 cfs. on the GP gauge which will be splashy with some good holes to hit in rapids that are unremarkable at 1500 to 2000. For example, when going around Sanderson Island you go left of the Island. If I remember correctly, near the top of the Island on the right side of the left channel there is normally a sharp rock that sticks up that is part of a ledge. That starts to get covered at about 2,700. At 3,000 it forms a good fun hole to hit with a short wave train. I am looking forward to what it looks like at the current levels.
 
#8 ·
Had planed on launching tomorrow. Called about shuttle and found out bear camp road is closed. The added shuttle cost and much longer trip home put the delay on it for us. A lot can happen in a couple weeks but it would be good to check what shuttle options are open.


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top