Alternatively tranquil and tumultuous, the Rogue chisels through the bristled plateau of the Siskiyou Mountains, taking on the character of a coastal river: steep-sided, narrow and heavily forested with moody, molting pools and sudden, spuming chutes and rapids. The French trappers who worked this watershed in the early 19th century found the waters troubling, but the Takelma Indians more so, and so the trappers called the river Les Coquines ("the Rogues") after their local adversaries. Almost two centuries later the Rogue would prove a scallywag of a river for me as well.

These four locations are the focus of legislation moving through Congress, were the subject of a recent Senate hearing, and have bipartisan support. There are unsung heroes who work day after day to promote protection for these wild lands.

Our raft bounced on the big waves coming at us from all directions as we squeezed through the narrow neck of the canyon.