Mike was hiking across a glacier in the Cascade Mountains near Three Fingered Jack last weekend and this weekend he's on the water with me and "the girls".

On Saturday, August 2, 2008 Shannon, Johanna, Mike and I spent the day on the North Umpqua River between Glide and Whistlers Bend Park! I floated this section many times when I lived in the Roseburg area so I knew it would be safe even with the higher than normal water levels all the Oregon rivers are experiencing this summer. There have been two deaths at Blossom Bar on the Rogue River - right where I went out of the raft the first year I did the Wild and Scenic Section with Willie and his friends! The newspaper articles say where people normally can push off the rocks (which I did when I went in) the water in now so forceful that the women were pinned against the rocks and not able to push off or come to the surface in the highly airiated water.

The waterfall just before the take out was the only technical section and we all took the slot on the far left side of the picture (River right) so we had it easy.


Some other boaters didn't know about the falls evidently and when they tried to get over to a safe slot they got stuck and really had a time of it. Johanna is sliding on by as they struggle to get their raft off the rocks! The guy standing on the rock really is running a risk of being left out there!! They did get through intact and with everyone they started with!

We had our lunch just below the falls discussed the dangers of skin cancer due to over exposure to the sun. We ALL got sun burnt because the day started out overcast and we didn't put sun screen on our legs!


It was a fun day - all splash and giggles white water! This was my July river day! A little delayed but I'll do another river in August to stay on track with atleast 1 day of whitewater each month this summer!



Tomorrow Jack and I depart for our 9 day trip on the Yucatan Pennisula of Mexico! There we have tickets for one day of skycycling, snorkeling in cenotes, and exploring caverns outside of Tulum on the Ultimate Canopy and Cavern Adventure. If interested you can read more about it at http://www.hiddenworlds.com/adventurepackage.aspx !

Our overall plans include seeing the Mayan ruins at Tulum and Chichen Itza, visiting Isla Holbox for the best seafood in Latin America (per the posts on Trip Advisor), spending a Sunday in Merida, exploring the Progresso area and any littl e puerto in between.

Will post again after the 15th!