Species: Trout, Steelhead
Date: Late October
Location: Wild and Scenic Grande Ronde River, OR

No. of days without cell service: 6.5

Miles floated: 39

Days/nights on the river: 7/6 

High temperature: 70-something

Low temperature: 30-something

No. of days it rained: 2

No. of wader-filling falls: 1

No. of sleeping pads that would not hold air: 1

No. of camp set-ups/breakdowns: 5

No. of times the raft got stuck, requiring either rocking the boat back and forth or stepping out entirely to push and pull: approx. 12-15.

Left to Right Lazy layover afternoon camp scene. A trip-making steelhead caught on a home tied skater. Jason Rolfe gets a better look at the camp water.

Tree and rock falls heard: at least 5. 

Moments of apprehension or fear: approx. 4-5, depending on criteria and/or who you ask. 

Mammals sighted: Whitetail Deer, Bighorn sheep, various members of the mink/weasel family, beaver. 

Birds sighted: Eagle, Raven, Osprey, Kingfisher, red-tailed hawk, Pacific wren (unconfirmed), Merganser.

October caddis eaten by humans: Not enough

Most worrisome named rapid: Blind Falls

Least: Bottleneck

Approx. weight (in pounds) of beverages on raft on day one: 65.5 

On day seven: 1.5

No. of apples eaten/brought: 6/12

No. of wag bags used: 7

Buckets of wag bags found and removed from wild and scenic area: 1

Different raft-packing arrangements tried: 3

Left to Right Burned out widow-makers were in play and made picking camps a bit more interesting. Jason Rolfe concentrates on the shade. A nice summer run steelhead prior to release.

No. of times “What happened so far?” was asked: 3

No. of other parties seen over 7 days: 5

No. that were fishing: 3

No. that were fishing with bobbers: 3

No. fishing with bobbers on spey rods: 1

Latest time of day sun crested canyon rim: ~10:30 am.

Moon stages experienced: waxing crescent—half.

Shooting stars seen: 1

Moments of wonder, surprise or contentment: Unquantifiable and ongoing.