Hiking the Rogue River
Part Two

Day 2: Black Bar Lodge to Marial Lodge
(15 miles, 8 hours)

After too-large a breakfast of eggs, pancakes, bacon, ham, cereal, and home-baked biscuits, with home-made blackberry jam, we put together our lunches from a wide selection of breads, cheese, lunch meats, apples and carrots, and waddled down to the raft. Our boatman, John, ferried us across, back to the north side.

Up we went, dodging poison oak, to rejoin the main trail. We stopped to catch our breath and readjust boots, and then started off along the trail at a relatively brisk pace. We had 15 miles to go today, so wanted to make as much distance as possible while it was still cool.

Laura checked off our progress on her topographic map, rapid by rapid and turn by turn. We made very good mileage all morning. The trail was in fine condition, again in sparse forest, and had fewer up and down sections than the previous stretch. The scene was as beautiful as the day before, with even more wild flowers, including many "hen and chickens" succulents and many gold/brown wild iris, with beautiful veining in the petals.

We lunched near Slide Creek, and hesitated near the property once owned by Zane Gray, who was an avid fisherman as well as author. The property is still owned by his family, and they have a caretaker living there most of the year. Our speed was somewhat slower after lunch, and about 3:30, we stopped at a creek and soaked our hot, tired feet in the icy water. This helped enormously, and made the last few miles more tolerable.

The last mile to Marial Lodge was on a dirt road that skirts the old Rogue River Ranch. The ranch buildings have been restored and have been designated a national landmark under BLM administration. A caretaker offers tours. At this point we were way too tired to visit, and pushed on to Marial Lodge.

The signing is poor on this last stretch, and we were about to think we had taken a wrong turn when we saw, by coming upon a simple, small sign by the road, that we were there. A large, friendly dog announced our arrival, and her barks were followed by greetings and ministrations by Pat Cameron, the proprietor. Here again, after many glasses of lemonade, we were given three comfortable, well appointed rooms for our party, all with modern private bath and lots of hot water.

After showers and foot care, we joined four other hikers for "happy hour" on the spacious deck, next to the dining room, where we had a great view of the river. The foursome had been with us at rustic Black Bar Lodge, and had preceeded us on the trail by about an hour. Happy hour was indeed happy, since we had just completed the tough day of our hike.

From here to the end, the longest hike would be only six miles. It is amazing how one's perspective changes. Now, six miles seemed easy and a short hike! After a tasty and plentiful dinner featuring spare ribs, we went off to our rooms and, after some minor rearranging of our backpacks, turned out the lights and went to sleep. We were really tired, and needed extra sleep to recover.

Marial Lodge uses a diesel generator for electric power, but would like to put in a small hydro-electric system on a nearby stream. That would be good for them, and for us. The water would just be used for power and then returned to the stream. Since they would not need their diesel generator, they could shut it down. Then there would be no chance of diesel spillage and no air pollution. I hope they can get a permit to install a small hydro plant.

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