Two years ago, I ordered an Orenco apple tree. The nursery wasn’t able to fill my order, so I tried again last year. Again, the nursery wasn’t able to fill the order. As a result, I talked with the orchardist who has been custom grafting apple trees for me and he grafted the Orenco for me. In December, the tree was ready to come to Illahe. It has been planted and I’ve been waiting for it to break dormancy. Today, it started showing signs that it is breaking dormancy (the buds are swelling and there is a tiny bit of green on the tip of one bud). In addition, the plants that I’d ordered a few months ago have arrived. So what are they and why?
The biggest addition is three crabapple trees. We have planted 10 Gravenstein apple trees at the lodge over the last five years. Gravensteins are our favorite apple, but they have one minor downside. Gravensteins produce sterile pollen. In order for fruit to form, the flower has to be pollinated with viable pollen. Now that some of the Gravensteins are getting to the point where they may bloom, I wanted to be certain that they’d have a pollen source. Crabapples have a long bloom period so they’ll help pollinate the Gravensteins and the later blooming apple trees.
The crabapples are important, but they aren’t the only addition. One of the firefighters who came to the area to fight the Klondike Fire told me about a pineapple guava. He said it was the best fruit that he’d ever eaten. He said that it would grow in our area so I decided to try it. I don’t know how that will turn out, but it sounded interesting and it isn’t a fruit that our guests are likely to encounter in a lot of other places.
The other fruit that we are experimenting with this year is a black currant. When my great-grandfather was caretaking for A.T. Jergens at Jergen’s Lodge – across the river and downstream from Foster Bar, they grew a lot of currants (and a lot of apples). Over time, I anticipate expanding from one plant to several – if I find that I use them.
Category Archives: Activities
2018 Update
We have been busy with our winter projects and updates for Illahe Lodge, when nature has allowed it. (We’ve had two snow storms this month and the forecast calls for the possibility of snow in our region next weekend as well.)
The fruit trees are all pruned. We’ve added eight additional apple trees of varieties that my great-grandfather would have planted or grafted if he’d had access to the varieties. These trees are at the far end of the garden where they’ll provide some shade on hot summer days. Down the road, I can foresee adding a bench under the trees. The varieties we added this year are Newtown Pippin, King, Akane, Braeburn, Northern Spy, Sierra Beauty, Grimes Golden, and Fameuse. In total, we have planted 26 apple trees over the last three years. We are planning to add four more apple trees this coming winter.
In 2017, we converted Room 2 in the main lodge from having two twin beds to one double bed. That change has been very popular. For 2018, we will be upgrading that room from having a double bed to having a queen bed. Also, Room 4 in the main lodge will be upgraded from having two twin beds to having one queen bed. By September 1, all of the beds in the main lodge will be extra long twins or queens. In the annex, the three rooms facing the driveway will each have a standard twin with a double bed. In addition, all of the beds in the main lodge and the annex will be less than four years old.
For the first time in many years, we will have some availability this fall for do-it-yourselfers who are floating the Rogue River as well as people who are hiking or running the Rogue River Trail. If you are looking for lodging in our area, I hope that you’ll keep us in mind.
Winter 2016
After a busy fall, we’ve seen the Rogue come up several times, including once where – in our area – it was higher this year than it got during 2015. Things are a little slower at Illahe Lodge in the winter. When weather or the river permit, guests are coming in to relax and go fishing. In addition, we hosted a group of ultrarunners over New Years. A second group is planning to come in March, weather permitting. For those of you who are interested in ultrarunning, our ultrarunning guests usually leave Galice in the morning of the first day, arrive at Illahe Lodge in the afternoon, spend the night with us, and then run back to Galice the second day. They say that this is a great way to spend the weekend. Some of these guests use Rogue as a training run for their races.
In addition to providing lodging to guests, we are also working on several projects at Illahe Lodge. With the rain, a few trees have fallen down and we are waiting for the weather to dry out enough that we can clean up the debris. One of the guides who helps us with big trees will be in to help us deal with that, when the weather cooperates. In addition, the tree pruning has started. Some of the guides are planning to come in and help us with the tree pruning. Here too, we have to wait until the weather cooperates.
In terms of indoor projects we are also working on the orchard plan that we started last year when we planted eight gravenstein (apple) trees, three crabapples, and roughly 20 fig trees. This year, we are planning to plant a variety of additional apple trees (including Hudson’s Golden Gem and Coos River Beauty – two apple varieties that were discovered in Oregon). We’ll be planting two peach trees, strawberries, and some blueberries as well. Other plans that we are working on include creating a covered smoking area for our guests.
Hope we see you on the Rogue in 2016! Illahe Lodge is open year around. Reservations are required. Give us a call if you are looking for a place to stay in the area and are looking for a country home environment.
The Rogue River on January 28, 2016. 
The transparent apple tree that was planted by E.J. Schneider (my great-grandfather). 
A look at Illahe Lodge from the gate to Big Bend Pasture. 
Hiking the Rogue River Trail
A group of 11 guests stayed with us night before last as part of their hike down the Rogue River Trail. They enjoyed sitting on our front porch, visiting, catching up on reading, sharing stories, and going for short walks (to the Rogue River and to Foster Bar).
Two groups of the guests decided that they wanted to get out on the water for a boat ride and story telling session with Ernie Rutledge. Ernie runs a “Rogue River Long Boat” that he designed and built. This design was created just for its use on the Rogue. Ernie is the only person who still runs that style of boat.