# Rogue Beta? Remove Coolers from Raft due to Bears? And Rainie Falls...



## Easy Tiger (Jun 22, 2016)

I don't think it's _necessary_, but I wouldn't want a bar hopping all over my boat with it's sharp, pointy claws!

From my research (we'll be there this summer), many of the sites along the Rogue have electric bear fences to put your cooler/food. For the camps that don't have fences, we are planning on stacking our cooler and dry box a bit away from camp and then putting a bunch of pans/noisy things on top that will topple over and alert us at night if a bear is invading.


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## ArgoCat (May 14, 2007)

I like it. But just curious, when you hear the pots and pans topple over in the middle of the night, what do you do? Go confront the bear in the middle of the night when it is hard to see, Gently say go away bear from the safety of your tent, be quiet in your tent and know that the bear is eating all of your food. Not sure what I would do. Would the bear run away or would he vigilantly defend his newfound carcass (your food). Do you hit him with Bear Spray and spray all of your food at the same time? Again, I don't know.


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## Liquido (Feb 27, 2012)

Thanks for the replies...The using pot and pans is a good idea, I think it's in the hope that the noise scares the bear away. 

Ok remove the cooler, check! 

Any beta on Rainey falls? I think it will be between 6-8 k.

Tight lines and good times everyone!!!


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## Duce (Sep 5, 2011)

Once you get down river of Blossom Bar it is good idea to remove coolers. Especially if your staying in or around Tate/Tacoma.

A couple things I think about when running the middle chute. A little oar drag to make sure you are going straight before releasing the oars (I don't ship them forward) and stay in the boat, the eddy line at the bottom is nasty for swimming.


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## Liquido (Feb 27, 2012)

Duce said:


> Once you get down river of Blossom Bar it is good idea to remove coolers. Especially if your staying in or around Tate/Tacoma.
> 
> A couple things I think about when running the middle chute. A little oar drag to make sure you are going straight before releasing the oars (I don't ship them forward) and stay in the boat, the eddy line at the bottom is nasty for swimming.


Great advice, thanks! I'm guessing you think it's worth doing. I don't know when I'll be back and know I'll regret not running it.


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## 90Duck (Nov 19, 2012)

ArgoCat said:


> I like it. But just curious, when you hear the pots and pans topple over in the middle of the night, what do you do? Go confront the bear in the middle of the night when it is hard to see, Gently say go away bear from the safety of your tent, be quiet in your tent and know that the bear is eating all of your food. Not sure what I would do. Would the bear run away or would he vigilantly defend his newfound carcass (your food). Do you hit him with Bear Spray and spray all of your food at the same time? Again, I don't know.


Bring a really bright tactical style police light or spotlight. Chuck rocks. Yell and holler and wave paddles around. Best option, use bear spray. It is really better for everyone, bear included, if the bears down there have nothing but negative experience with humans and learn to stay away. Problem bears that get habituated to camp raiding generally end up getting eliminated by the ODFW.


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## Duce (Sep 5, 2011)

FYI, at these higher flows the middle shoot line is not very clear. I use the middle chute for low water passes. At 6-8 the fish ladder is moving pretty good.


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## HPMG (Nov 2, 2008)

Saw a Star raft with about a dozen punctures in it at Half Moon a couple years ago, since then I have always removed the coolers etc. from boat. BLM put out a new video somewhat recently suggesting the use of Ammonia on top of the cooler pile. Stopped on the way up to buy a bottle with a screw top lid to set on top each night. At inspection I was told it was not necessary???? YMMV, Left it in the shuttle vehicle.

Also "tested" the bear fences at both Mule Creek and Half Moon last trip, could barely feel a shock. I'm guessing that the batteries were dead and they rely on a new battery giving the bears a good nip to keep them out of the fences at all times.....that wouldn't have stopped a bunny rabbit.

Have fun up there!


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## CVAN (Apr 13, 2010)

I'm told that this is an old Alaska trick, and we employed it last year on the Rogue:

* 6 Tube socks
* 6 Urinal cakes
* Pinesol
* Ammonia

Place a urinal cake in each sock, and liberally soak in Pinesol/
Ammonia.

Distribute socks around/on top of your cooler/food stash. 

Keep the socks in an old drybag.

I'm not suggesting that this technique kept the bears away, but we didn't have any issues. We did run into two trips that had bears in camp.

CJ


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## joelduder (Jun 8, 2014)

We did a trip on the Rogue 2 weeks ago. While we did see 2 bears down near Zanes cabin/Missouri Bar area(~mm 17) we didn't have any issues in our camps. We pulled coolers and dry boxes and buttoned everything up each night. 
I believe our flows were around 7-8k. I ran Rainie in my 16ft trib with gear and 2 riders. My gf and my buddy ran middle chute with lighter gear and paddle assist in 13' and 14' boats. It's a bit pushy on middle chute but an easy scout and with a little slide easy to get where you need to be. They both shipped once they were lined up and the drop was fun. Fish ladder looks like a bit of a pain to get to. The main chute is easy to line up, pretty straight forward but would suck to swim. It won't let me upload the videos but here are some stills of where we hit it. 
Blossom was drown out. I took the conventional line still which was pushy with higher flows but doable. The other two ran right and it was and easy scout/easy run. Keep an eye down river for holes still. 
Amazing river! Can't wait to go back! Enjoy!


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## Wiggins (Sep 26, 2009)

For about $15 you can buy aerosol pepper spray grenades. They have no pyrotechnic to start a fire, and basically work like a bug bomb (push the button and it sprays until it is empty). I use them as an alternative to bear spray. More compact, and I don't have to get as close to the bear. 

I would definitely pull the coolers and food boxes each day. 

Kyle


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## wshutt (Jun 20, 2013)

Just got off the Rogue. The only bear spotted by our group was a ways up Mule Canyon and scuttled away when the hikers disturbed it. We did not pull coolers/dry boxes off boats but made sure to clean up really well and used ammonia on the coolers especially down lower. 

Nice flows, the Rainy fish ladder was just point and go, no hanging up in the channel and Blossom was a straight shot through/over the picket fence. WAY easier than at lower flows. We did a late start the first day and three nights giving us lots of hiking time.


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