Family Moments: Rafting The Grand Ronde

This year we were invited on another family rafting trip down the Grande Ronde river in Oregon. Emily and were stoked to take the kids our on the river for a 5-day multi-day trip. What made it even better was the crew that we had; with the Burnham family, Kincaid family, Robertson family, the Bechtel family along with Kristine and KC Jackson and everyones pal, good ol’ Rickety Rick.




I was fortunate enough to get a raft to use from NRS, which was perfect for us as it allowed enough space available to bring almost anything we wanted. Our trip had kayaks, a dynamic duo, SUP’s cat rafts, oar rigs and kids kayaks. We were ready for anything under the sun. It was actually quite fun to be able to row the raft as I hadn’t spent much time behind the oars in my past. Rowing is just another great way to experience the river, and one that I don’t get to take part in very often.


Hands down the best part of the trip was sharing the experience with my kids, while we were eating, sleeping and living in the wilderness. It was also quite amazing to see all the kids playing together as there was a total of 9 wild children on the river with us. I love getting the opportunity to relive life through the eyes of a child. I laughed as I watched the kids dig a hole in the sand just to see how deep they could go. It was also great to catch up with some long time friends and kayaking legends like Macy Burham, Jay Kincaid and Taylor Robertson. We would stay up late reliving old kayak trips, as I heard all the stories of the ‘good ol days’.


The wildlife was also quite incredible, as we frequently saw the likes of bald eagles, golden eagles, pelicans, osprey, mule deer, tons of gardener snakes and even a single rattle snake. 7 year old Chase Kincaid was the young ’Steve Erwin’ of our trip as he was constantly looking and catching the gardener snakes. The fishing was good, and Mr. Bechtel spent some time teaching me the ins and outs of fly fishing.


Though like all great things, it has to eventually come to an end as we finished our 38 miles later on mid day on our 5th days as we floated into the takeout. Life on the river was such good livin’ that non of us wanted to leave. Though as we all had to get back to the ‘real world’


and head back, we eventually said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Though, we all have that common denominator, that brings us back together, the river. Until next time, thanks everyone for the good times.