By Bob Van Leer

  This was Monday and to be the last day on the river. We dropped downstream stopping first at Tate Creek. A difficult mile up the creek is a falls with a chute for the hardy to slide down the falls.

  Further downstream we went through Clay Hill Rapids. At the trail on the cliff above the falls is where Hathaway Jones fell off the trail and was killed.

  A little below Clay Hill, in the far distance, we could see a clear cut, the first since we started the trip. We made one more stop for lunch.

   On the trip we saw a number of deer, but no bears. Birds abound including great blue heron and osprey. We didn't see any eagles on this trip. Surprising to me was the number of Canada geese on the river. Denny said he started with Dick Sturgill in 1966 and bought the business from him in 1970. Denny lived in Albany at the time and commuted for a while. He fell in love with Gold Beach, bought property there and moved permanently in 1986. Bill McNair is business manager for Denny and the business is operated out of Bill's Jerry's Jet Boats office with Wendy as secretary. Denny, Helen and two guides, Pat and Greg, operate two three-day trips a week this time of year. Later in the year they will run steelhead fishing trips.

  In the afternoon we drifted in to Foster Bar, the takeout point. Then we all gathered our gear and said our goodbys to fellow passengers. Our pickup was waiting as per arrangement and we piled in and headed downriver for home after a delightful trip. Larry Wood needed a ride home and Kaylen joined us also so we had two more passengers than when we left four days ago.