2025 President's Day Rogue Trip

Submitted by Jason Urasky

Feb 15, 2025 – Feb 17, 2025
Almeda to Foster Bar
 

We had a really “dry January”, so I was surprised when I saw the first flow predictions for our Rogue trip at 20K cfs.  That’s the level where we start talking about alternatives.  Luckily, the predictions are rarely perfect, and we ended up launching around 12K. 

On top of the flows giving us a scare, Portland got snowed in on Thursday. The roads in southern Oregon were dry, but it was heavy enough that we were worried about getting out of town on Friday. 

Everyone eventually made it out of Portland and we all shared the group camp at Almeda the night before launch. 

 

Saturday: Almeda to Horseshoe Bend
12K cfs at Agness

We launched with 12 people across 9 boats.  There was still snow at the top of the hills, but the temps stayed above freezing for the trip. 

 

Grave Creek: 

The standard line was washed out and almost smooth.  There was one big hole where the rocks on the right usually are at the falls, but easy to avoid. 

 

Rainie Falls:

 

We scouted Rainie Falls just to see it. Multiple lines were talked about, but everyone ran the “fish ladder” as it was the simplest with lowest risk. 

Tyee:
There was a big hole on river right as you made the turn behind the rock, but it was easy to slide to the inside of the corner off of the lateral above it.  There was also enough water to run to the left of the rock, which a few of us took.

Wildcat:
The island was still recognizable, but the rock was completely underwater and the rapid was pretty much smooth. 

Blackbar:
Gone.  

Camp: Horseshoe Bend

There was evidence of fresh wood deposits all the way to the top of the bar that the camp is on.  Looking back at flows, the Rogue had recently peaked at 73,600 on December 30.    At 80K, you’d be landing on top of the bar and tying off to the trees.  

Sunday: Horseshoe Bend to Tacoma
10K cfs at Agness

The rapids in the morning flew by, most of them unrecognizable from summer flows.  There were a few bigger features that took momentum to get through. 

Mule Creek Canyon:
The entrance rapid into Mule Creek is moving fast and fairly big. Mule Creek canyon itself felt 3x as wide, with big boils that you can miss.  You could actually row the entire time.  For reference, at whatever level this was, we were 6 ft from the top of the normal cliffs in summer. 

 

Blossom Bar:
We stopped to scout Blossom, as you rarely get to see it this high and there are plenty of options for a route.   The right line seemed to have a rock barely poking out in the middle of the wave train and nobody wanted to take it.  

The clouds darkend as we headed back to the boats.  The wind started to pick up and the rain came down hard. Just added to the ambience... 

Most of the group started left, running over what was the picket fence and then sliding to river right following the cleanest line in the water.   

The wind died down shortly after Devils Staircase, but the rain continued for the float out to Tacoma.

Camp: Tacoma
We had to take all 3 landings as the beaches were underwater and we knew the water would be rising by morning.  The pit toilets and bear fence had been removed. 

The large group tarp came in clutch here, letting us ignore the constant drizzle and enjoy a relaxing final night. 

Monday: Tacoma to Foster
13K cfs and rising at Agness

High water makes for a fast float out to Foster Bar.   There was a new giant log at the edge of the parking lot at Foster Bar, probably deposited by the December flow. We'll see if it's still there this summer, as March followed up with a 90K flow. 

All things considered, we had great, but a fairly "uneventful" trip (in a good way).  All participants were experienced, competent boaters, and the whole trip ran smoothly (once we got out of the snow in Portland).