So, my long time friend and river pard Gene Couch a.k.a. Dead Lizard, a.k.a. Mean Gene, a.k.a. Cochise has been bugging me for a trip report on the Grande Ronde. So here goes, my first attempt at a trip report. At first I thought I should have a snappy title like 'Three Old Guys on the River', or maybe 'Little Things Can Add Up' or '3 Guys/4 Days/Great Trip' but I decided to let the reader choose.

The Old Guys on the river were myself, Mark Tracht from Spokane WA. This was my 60th year on the planet and my fourth trip on the Ronde not counting a rafting trip in 85 that I just rode as a passenger. Bob Kassa also from Spokane, not quite on Medicare and possibly his 10th trip and maybe more. Some of you know how hazy these things get as the years go by. Jim Ferguson out of Vancouver WA, been eligible for a couple of years now and his first trip on the river. Bob was running a Mad River Outrage X and I was using by 16ft Wenonah Rogue. Both of these boats are Royalex canoes. Jim had one of those inflatable tub toys that Gene prefers, an Aire Tomcat tandem. One of the great things about the Ronde for those of us from the Inland Empire is we can leave home at reasonable hour, drive to Boogan's Oasis at the bottom of the Rattlesnake grade, have lunch, set up the shuttle with Bill Farrell ($95.00 this year), drive to the put-in, launch, and knock out a nice evening float all in the same day.