Looking for the perfect section of river for your next boating adventure? Look no further than the Klamath River. Located just across the California border, the Klamath is a mere 45 minute drive away on I-5 South. The river features relatively warm water, mellow rapids, and a lunch spot full of goats. The recommended stretch of river is about 4-5 miles long, from Cayuse Day Use Area to Gottville River Access. The take out and put in are both clearly marked, allowing easy navigation for first-time Klamath adventurers.

The river is located in the beautiful Klamath mountain range, which features sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and plenty of opportunities for viewing wildlife like herons and river otters. This stretch of river takes about one to two hours to complete and is enjoyable by raft or kayak. There are fun class two rapids that provide safe play and good skill development for the novice boater. At about thirty minutes on the river, be sure not to miss Goat Beach when looking for a place to eat lunch. When going downriver, the beach is located on the left shore and is marked with signs. The beach welcomes rafters and kayakers alike, and has a bunch of goats running around the beach which provide loads of entertainment.

Don't wait too long to do this adventure however, the river will get colder as Winter arrives. If you need to rent a boat or river gear, the SOU Outdoor Program has got you covered. Check out our gear rental prices online or come talk to us in the Student Rec Center!

My feet find purchase on the textured granite, stepping delicately past my last cam. Grinning, I look up at the route ahead - a fractured, weaving line of cracks and rock slab that juts upwards toward the cloudless sky, unmarred but for a thin haze of smoke from distant fires. Pulling a #3 off my rack, I place it deep in the flaring offwidth next to me, clip my rope to it, and continue upwards. The click of a shutter from the ground reminds me that I’m not alone - with Nate belaying and Jeff on camera duty, we’ve been a merry band of three traipsing around the City of Rocks for days on end. This will be among the last routes we do - a pleasant cool-down to cap off a week of excellent climbing.

Continuing up the wall, the crack narrows down to under an inch, and I eye a perfect finger lock just overhead. Already considering my next gear placement, I reach up for the crack, but pause as my eye notices movement. In that crack, not six inches from my outstretched fingers, are a dozen yellow and black and faces staring out at me, antennae twitching with irritation, analyzing whether or not I pose a threat to the hive.

Now, despite being moderately allergic, I usually don’t mind wasps. I leave them alone, and they elect to adopt the same policy, so we can coexist. But that day, on that crack, I was unwittingly in violation of our sacred pact, and we all knew it in that same instant when my eyes met theirs about six feet above my last piece and maybe twenty-five feet off the ground.

Jeff describes the next moment best: “I’ve never seen you nope out of something so fast in my life.” Jeff has known me for over a decade. Yelling some unprintable expletives, I leapt off the wall, trusting my blue C4 with every bone in my body. The wasps in turn leapt from their crack in unison like a squadron of fighter jets and dove down towards me.

“LOWER ME LOWER ME LOWER ME,” I screamed down to my poor belayer, willing myself away from the horde. Confused as hell but quick as whip, Nate let me down as rapidly as possible. My knot was practically untied by the time my feet hit the ground. “There’s bees! Run!” Like spooked rabbits, we took off, running far faster than I knew was possible in climbing shoes, wasps hot on our heels.

I’d like to credit a truly outstanding shot of adrenaline and a bit of luck to our escape - somehow, not one of us was stung. The wasps adopted a nearby tree to swarm around, and we were able to get the cams back (with some shenanigans and more type II fun - but that’s another story). As we found a different climb to end the trip with, we all agreed that the suggested rating (5.10a) was a bit of a sandbag...that godforsaken route was easily 5.10bee.