Pros:
- Good flow
- Challenging holes
- Nice setting & interesting terrain
- Fun short holes in the middle
- Less wind than other Gorge courses
- Makes a nice 18 when combined with Rooster Rock West
Cons:
- A couple of potentially frustrating long holes, especially for beginners
- Stinging nettles, and lots of them
- Disc-eating ravines
Other Thoughts:
I think Rooster East gets a bad rap. It's true that #3 and #8 can seem downright sadistic; #3 requires you to hit a 6-foot gap, #8 is bordered by a bramble-filled ravine, and it's very rare to get a 3 on either of them. But #4 through #7 are all birdieable short holes that can be a lot of fun -- especially #4, which is the steepest downhill hole I've seen anywhere.
The key to enjoying this course is to pick the right time of year. There's never any poison oak, but from late March through early summer, it's chock full of stinging nettles. (Long pants help some, but they've gotten me even through my thin convertible pants.) There's a bit of a break in July and August, then they fire up again in September and October. Only November through mid-March are truly safe. Also, the ravine below #8 is full of blackberries -- they're deadly all year, but in the summer and fall it's pretty hard to find anything that gets deflected down there. And that's not to mention all the generic non-toxic underbrush on every hole that won't hurt you but will hide your disc. Spotters are recommended.
The good news is that the wind isn't nearly as much of a factor as at the west course, because the forest here is so dense.