Ferron's Fun Trips: 2010

Monday, October 4, 2010

Tips From A River Master

















GALICE- Settlers called it the River of the Rogues, after the American
Indians they fought in the 1800s. Today its just a different kind of rogue
- roughhousing with boaters on one of Americas premier whitewater rivers.

Ferron Mayfield of Ferrons Fun Trips made his first river trip with the Boy
Scouts in 1969, and has been a professional guide on the Rogue River for 33 years.

That was the influence of Evel - Evel Knievel, that is, Mayfield says of
his reasons for picking the Rogue. His brother, Darryl, was on hand in
1974 when Knievel tried to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in a steam-powered,
rocket like contraption.

People from Grants Pass also were there to witness the crash (Knievel
escaped with minor injuries) and got to talking with Darryl about the money
he could make as a guide on the Rogue. He went for it, and so did Ferron after
college.

In 1981, Darryl drowned at Rainie Falls. The story is a little confused,
whether he had a life jacket on, Ferron says. In any case, he apparently
got caught in the powerful currents there below the falls.

In better days, Ferron was in on the filming of a TV movie called "Pile up
on the Rogue" - actually "Killing at Hells Gate". A boat that was not part
of the production came through, then another and another, and they piled
one on top of the other like pancakes on the same rock.

The river was full of people and gear. One of the groups was San Francisco
firefighters or somebody, and they were all rescuin everybody Ferron muses.
It all worked out fine, but it was quite a lurid scene.

He has boated everything from the Colorado River to the Biobio in Chile, the
Usumacinta on the border between Guatemala and Mexico, and the Shotover in New
Zealand.

A few tips from Ferron and other sources for first-time rafters on the Rogue:

Safety

It helps to be in good shape. Navigating a rapid or swimming out of trouble
requires some strength and stamina.

Respect the river. Currents can be strong even in areas that seem calm.

State law requires children 12 and under to wear a life vest. Common sense
requires everybody else to wear one. Putting on a vest in an emergency is
about as realistic as trying to buckle up half a second before a car crash.

Go with someone who knows the river. You could get in big trouble trying to
navigate a rapid you didn't anticipate. Maps are available from outfitters and
others, but the river can change radically with the water level.

The Rogue is well staggered for training. The upper part in the Gold Hill and
Grants Pass areas is mild. The middle, from Hog Creek to Grave Creek, is more
intense, and the lower part, with Rainie Falls and similarly notorious Blossom
Bar, is for experienced rafters only.

Rapids are rated for difficulty, from little Class I riffles to Class VI monsters.
Mayfield advises beginners to avoid anything over Class II. Rainie is Class
V and Blossom is IV to V.

Keep arms and legs inside the bus. A loaded-up raft flying down a rapid could
easily smash a hand or a foot against a rock.

If youre bringing small children, take a guided trip on a mild part of the river.
In the space of two months in 2008, Blossom drowned three adults, and two
of them were wearing life jackets.

If you fall out of the raft, don't panic and don't fight the current. Get into a
semi-prone position with your feet in front of you, to use as shock absorbers.
Go with the flow until you can find a nice, calm place to swim out.

Avoid fallen trees at all cost. You could easily get snagged underwater.

Big rocks can make the river flow backward into holes that trap boats. It may
take some rocking and paddling back and forth to free the raft, or hauling out
by rope in extreme cases. If you get dumped out in a hole, remember the drill:
Dont panic. Let the river carry you out.

Most accidents happen getting on or off the boat. Expect some motion, and
slippery rocks.

Don't drink. Alcohol, hot sun and bobbing boats are a dangerous combination. If
you're navigating a rapid or suddenly pitched into the water, drunk is the
last thing you want to be.

If you're going with an outfitter, ask how much experience your guide has.

Things to bring and wear

Bottled water. Rivers contain organisms that may make you sick.

Sunblock, insect repellent, something to cover your head and a cell phone,
although it wont have much range at river level in the mountains.

Consider a helmet, especially if you’re going to be on big water.

Wear wool, nylon, polypropylene or other materials that shed water. Avoid cottons.

Soggy jeans can chill you and weigh you down in an emergency.

Bring a windbreaker, too. Even on warm days, it can be cool at river level. Canvas
tennis shoes are also recommended, and you may want to wear a long-sleeved shirt
to avoid sunburn.

General

Best weather for rafting the Rogue is generally early July through early September.

Rafts are available for rent from local commercial outfitters. The smaller the
boat, the more likely it is to flip. Dont get in over your head.

May 15 through Oct. 15, the lower section of the river requires a permit from the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management. For more details, go to www.blm.gov or call the
BLM at 541-479-3735.

By Howard Huntington of the Daily Courier

His Stories Add Spice To The River

MERLIN — Ferron Mayfield scratched his goatee and tried to think of a good river story, while hoisting one of his 23 rafts into the shed as the season wound down last week.

It's part of the Southern tradition — hanging out on the porch and spinning a good yarn, said the 53-year-old Alabama native, in his melodious drawl.

For 30 years, Mayfield's front porch has been his raft or drift boat, since he left a government job in water treatment to seek adventure out West.

"You've got the podium, and you're the captain," said Mayfield, who operates Ferron's Fun Trips with his wife, Sue Orris. "We're in the entertainment business."

"He knows a lot of history of the river and the characters who lived on it, and he tells it in a way very few people can," said Margaret Bradford, friend of the couple. "And he has that drawl."

Mayfield said people in the South had to talk slowly because it was so hot and humid, as he launched into a story (shortened here for space purposes):

It was 110 degrees on the lower Rogue, he was rowing the baggage raft, wearing a red sweatshirt with a hood (he doesn't trust sunscreen) that he'd wet down to stay cool.

A bedraggled hummingbird stopped and licked his sleeve to hydrate, then "fluttered up and stuck his tongue right up my big nose," Mayfield said. "I think he thought I was a big red flower."

Mayfield said his mom told the best stories back in Childersburg, Ala., where Ferron had four brothers and sisters.

Older brother Darryl heard about the Rogue River when he ran into some Grants Pass folks while watching daredevil Evel Knievel's attempt to jump the Snake River in 1974.

"They said, 'People pay you to take them down the river,'" Mayfield said. "What a novel concept for a country boy from Alabama."

Darryl came out first, and Ferron followed, working summers before moving for good in 1977 and working for Bryce Whitmore and Wilderness Waterways.

"It was serf labor in the early days," he said. "The outfitters liked to pay you at the end of the season. If you loved the river enough you put up with it."

He spent his life savings, $2,000, on a mining claim as he and a few cohorts mined gold in the winter on Galice Creek, before, "The government persuaded me to give it up."

"The feds claimed we were just dirty squatters. I knew that wasn't true."

Mayfield said at a guides convention in Eugene in 1981, a BLM employee "was kind enough to explain it to this country boy."

"We've got all the money and lawyers in the world and we're out to get your ass," Mayfield recalled him saying.

"It turns out I was playin' without payin'. So I gave up gold mining."

Mayfield, divorced from his first wife, fell in love with Orris after they'd worked together for a few summers on the river. Orris, head of Rogue Community College's counseling department, handles the books and other business details for the business.

"I'd be lost without her," Mayfield said. "We're an odd couple. She's the Jewish girl from Boston, and I'm the country bumpkin from Alabama."

"Most people don't realize how intelligent he is," Orris said of Mayfield, an avid reader and world traveler. "He's amazing. He's a true Southern gentleman. We would get off exhausting days on the river and he'd help people carry bags to the campsite."

Above all, they have fun. Just listen to their answering machine:

"This is Ferron and Sue, and Ferron's Fun Trips. We're out having fun."

Ferron and Sue also sleep above the boat shed, in an outdoor bedroom.

Mayfield often takes his dogs Junior and Pupeye down the river, and customers are allowed to bring pets. That landed him a spot on the TV show "Animal Planet" a few years back.

He even took a cat and some kittens for a family on a half-day trip. Turns out the cats were the children's security blanket, following their mother's recent death from cancer.

Another family brought a parrot a few weeks ago.

"It added a real pirate theme to the thing," Mayfield said.

Every time Mayfield goes by Rainie Falls, he throws a flower in the river for Darryl, who drowned there in 1982. Darryl took off his lifejacket and dove in after a loose gear bag below the Middle Chute, Mayfield said. He was 37. Mayfield still uses his brother's drift boat. Mayfield was fishing in Alaska at the time of Darryl's death, earning enough money to put a down payment on his property.

Ferron Mayfield, the quintessential free spirit, can reflect on 30 years of fun on the Rogue River.

"America is more of a free country than people take advantage of," he said. "A lot of people do what's easy, or what their parents did. Others do stuff they're fascinated with. You end up working a lot of your life. It's best to at least halfway enjoy your work."

By Jeff Duewel of the Daily Courier