OWA Trip Report – 2024 Rogue River Lodge Trip

Submitted by Van McKay

 

Good communication, Stroke, Dehydration and Air Ambulance on the Rogue

The May 2024 Rogue River Lodge trip is an annual family and friend’s trip for over 50 years where we also invite OWA rafters to attend. It has been listed in the trip calendar for many years and this year we filled up the guest list quickly. I led this group with 27 people using 16 boats to stay at Black Bar, Marial and Half-Moon Bar lodges and the flowrate was a bit over average. The weather was better than forecasted with high temperatures in the lower 70’s and sunny skies. Staying at the lodges, with beds, showers and meals cooked for you is rafting living large.

First off, we all learned the importance of better communication, both in securing permits and on launch day. We asked everyone to apply for the lottery with the maximum number of 20 people. This year, unfortunately, the one winner in our group submitted only for their group of 4 — leaving us scrambling just before our launch date to call in (over 2000 times) and obtain our other 23 spaces.

Next off, in 2023 we had to change our traditional launch site from Graves Creek to Almeda due to a rock slide closing the road. It was such an easier launch site when dealing with a large number of boats that we kept it this year. And, despite information in an email stating the launch site had changed to Almeda, one long-time regular that was not on the 2023 trip still went to Graves Creek (despite us seeing them at the lodge that morning), where they waited patiently, by themselves, and quite embarrassed for the other 15 boats to float down and meet them.

 

 

Our first overnight stop was Black Bar Lodge where several partook in a not-so-fierce competition of bocce ball. At dinner we toasted to Mace, the long-time manager of the lodge, who suddenly passed away two weeks before our arrival. He was a fast talker, a hard worker and knew the ins & outs of the lodge. He was always happy and welcoming to see us and was the face of Black Bar Lodge -- as well as being a long-term good friend of the lodge owner John James. We and the staff, including John James, gave Mace a farewell toast with Dead Guy Ale.

The bank at Black Bar Lodge can handle 16 boats easily. Marial Lodge has a smaller alcove and 16 can’t fit without clipping a few to the riverside of boats. Half Moon Bar Lodge has a very small alcove requiring a bit of logistics. We had boats stop on the bank at Paradise Lodge which is slightly upstream. Paradise can get a bit cranky about this but we likely were not trespassing as long as we were below the mean high-water mark. With walkie talkies we asked for one boat at a time to come down. We removed the passengers and their nightly gear; then tied off/clipped their boats in and also stacked several.

Our layover day at Half Moon Bar lodge, was filled with visiting, cornhole and Steve Adams organized the first-ever Half Moon cribbage tournament with about 8 people. Mike Ross, owner of Half Moon, donated a Half Moon hat to Denise Bollman, the winner of the tournament. Mike has worked very hard on the lodge performing all the room upgrades including furniture building. He provides outstanding food and tells stories of the lodge’s history. Cary Solberg kept true to his tradition on OWA trips of being a bar meister supplying tasty drinks.

On the float out, we saw a BLM patrol boat lazily floating down the river to Foster Bar. The agent did not approach any of our boats but likely was checking for boat permit tags and life jackets. I spoke with him and although he was in the Forest Service jurisdiction, he said both agencies patrol both jurisdictions. He said that to reach compliance, they provide education. For example, if we didn’t have a permit tag on our boat, he would tell us that we needed one. Of rafting on this same weekend almost every year for decades, this is the first time we have seen a patrol boat.

The usual critters were on the river such as western pond turtles, turkey buzzards, Canadian geese and their goslings, common mergansers, osprey, bald eagles, jumping fish, etc., and no bears. Not usual was seeing turkeys and female Common Mergansers without their ducklings. The females were paired up with males so maybe it was a late mating season for them. We experienced strong upstream winds on the first day – the likes I’ve never seen. However, that was offset by having no stiff upstream winds on the final day floating out.

As to the “Stroke, Dehydration and Air Ambulance on the Rogue” catchy headline — I guess I should talk about that. On the first night at Half Moon Bar lodge, I was awakened by two members at about 1:30 in the morning. Nighttime calls are never a good sign. I was informed that a member of the group had an incident, that a medical helicopter was on its way and they needed to find Mike the owner. I told them where his quarters were and I got dressed to join them. Half Moon Bar lodge is in a deep canyon and has a small airstrip where a helicopter can land. Mike attempted to reach the pilot by radio. After several attempts he made contact with the pilot, who had never been there before, and helped him land safely about 100 yards from the lodge.

The medical incident was that a member got out of bed in the middle of the night and collapsed on the bathroom floor. The crash woke up their spouse and people in neighboring rooms. After being unconscious for five minutes they woke in a stupor not knowing where they were or who their spouse was. They became more lucid over time but fell unconscious once again. After waking up they slowly became lucid. A doctor and nurse with our group had been summoned to help. The patient hit their head, likely had a concussion and had symptoms of a stroke or dehydration – they both have similar symptoms. After assessing the patient, the doctor called 911 and discussed their situation. Half Moon Bar has no road access so it is only accessible by boat or air. It could have taken hours to get the patient to a hospital by boat and then by car. The doctor discussed the patient’s condition at length with 911 dispatch. Dispatch determined that the patient needed to be evaluated by a hospital and sent a helicopter ambulance, as under similar conditions in an urban setting they would have sent a regular ambulance.

Mike used his Gator with trailer to get the patient, who was wrapped and strapped to a stretcher, moved out to the helicopter. Several of us slid the stretcher into the helicopter and it took off. The helicopter took the patient to a Medford hospital, even though clouds were coming in potentially making it impossible to land there. Later that morning, results from the hospital indicated the patient did not suffer from a stroke but was very dehydrated, much to the relief of their spouse and the rest of us.

Dehydration can cause a number of reactions in the body and brain that can result in passing out, as described to me by a nurse in our group. That nurse, as well as the majority of guests there, did not wake up to the helicopter. They were all quite surprised to hear of a helicopter evacuation during the night! After breakfast several of us untangled the boats to extract the spouse’s boat so they could float out and get to the hospital.

How did the patient become so dehydrated that they passed out? The simple answer of course was not drinking enough water on the river and into the evening. Another factor was alcohol consumption in the evening as alcohol has a dehydrating effect on the body. Severe and untreated dehydration can be life threatening. What is alarming is that I have experienced similar behaviors and maybe the same thing could have happened to me! The take away, as you’ve probably guessed, is to Drink Plenty of Water When Rafting!! (even in the moderate 70’s high temps like we had on this trip).

Another thing to consider is an air ambulance membership. We found out that a late 70’s man in our group has an air ambulance membership. He and his partner do a lot of outdoor activities like skiing and rafting. At his age he feels the extra money for air ambulance service, at somewhere around $80 per year, is well worth it. He claimed that it can cost $10,000 just for the helicopter pilot to turn on the ignition and another story was of a helicopter evacuation costing $60,000. I am currently looking into an air ambulance membership and how it would relate to my health insurance. Life Flight appears to have the best coverage in the Pacific Northwest.

Overall, it was a very good trip with great weather, a large group of fun people staying at lodges and enjoying the pleasures of rafting and visiting with old and new friends. I’ll work on making trip details simpler and communicating dehydration dangers to rafters in future safety talks. Besides me and Denise Bollman, the group members included Steve and Eve Adams, Pat Barry, Ron Buhr, Caren Chvatal and Paul Vermilya, Jared Deck and Christine Hanly, Louise Frank, Matt Gobeille and Lindsey Paton, Angela Hanly and Dan Sloan, David and Jen Hoffer, Ross Hudson and Rosie Zada, Chuck and Yumi Lindeen, Toni Martinez and Suzi Richards, Paul Morin, Cary Solberg, David VanSpeybroeck and David York.