The fall is in full swing and Old Man Winter is starting to settle in with nightly frost and some Snow! I have moved to Colorado since my last entry and i am having a pretty bad ass time here. The mountains are super pretty and the town of Crested Butte is very unique. There are a whole plethora of recreational activities to invest time into here. I have been doing a lot of mountain biking and four wheeling hell I even went skiing already! It is soo rad here!
Any how I have been having these withdrawal symptoms lately dreaming, day dreaming, having drunken conversations with people about River Rafting you know how it is...
I thought it might be an opportune time to tell a story. This one dates back to July of 06 (right about the time AL Gore invented the Internet!) So as all Raftin' stories begin this one will too. ready?
So No SH*T there we were the Upper Black River in Hawkensville, NY was running as high as it ever gets (even bigger than some spring time runoff) ARO had all operations closed due to dangerous water levels and we river guides were getting antsy to do some rad whitewater. The crew consisted of myself of course, Lynne, Scott, Lindsy, and Gwen. Lynne and Scott were the only two who have seen this stretch of whitewater before. Gwen was just a Guide in training and Lindsy is a Black River Guide. We hit the put in around noon and the river was HUGE I think the water level was about 14 plus feet. One can check the level of this gauge here http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?04252500 . So we got into the yellow 14 foot NRS raft with extra paddles a first aid kit and a huge pre trip adrenaline buzz. It was rockin. The first set of rapids had huge waves from 12-14 feet tall and holes that dropped about 6-8 feet a solid class 3 rapids it was big but every hazard seemed avoidable.
We encountered some crappy flat water but even that was big! We paddled through a cookout shelter and over the fire pit next to it and the tables were swirling about aimlessly in the eddy current. Houses were on the brink of floating away. Full size old growth timbers were barreling downstream in quantity. The net rapids was the big one. Power Line Is a somewhat long set and it has a 3/4 river wide hole. Pretty burly paddling if you ask me (and I'm a professional). We start our drop with the most innocent of intentions when we lost our line we didn't panic cause we were all guides (except Gwen). We dropped into a big hole followed by a 18-20 foot wave. We definitely failed to negotiate that wave and flipped the raft. I surfaced moments later under the capsized boat. After less than a second I was out from under it and bracing in the safe whitewater swimming position grasping the rafts chicken line. A series of equally tall waves proceeded to pummle the raft and us. I was trying in vein to climb onto the overturned raft. After a series of failed attempts at scaling the overturned boat i noticed a tree still attached by its roots to shore protruding into the river as the river made a sweeping turn to the right. This strainer was quite the shock. I was aware of the situations deadly importance. I'm thinking if I go under this tree I'm stuck there for the rest of my to be short life. I made a quick grab onto the tree with my left hand and with my right hand I clenched the chicken line with all of my might. Nanoseconds later the trees branches pulled at my face trying to bring me to a watery grave. I held strong however and somehow made it over the tree. I definitely saw stars!
My adrenaline was at the highest level I have ever experienced. Super human strength and concentration overcame my body. From the third person I saw myself climb onto the still overturned raft pull Gwen first then Lindsy then Lynn onto the overturned boar. Scott by this time had climbed onto the boat. we had but one paddle left. I was bleeding from my face. A part of the tree still out for blood was entrapped in my helmet. We still had a quarter mile of some of the most terrifying whitewater id seen to that point in my life. The four of us who dropped paddles were using our hands to negotiate the overturned raft around the hazards. Scott still had his paddle and was trying to steer. Lynne was saying over and over "This isn't Good!" followed by "Big Hole" (The 3/4 river wide hole was coming right at us) as if we couldn't see the drop followed by a massive torrent of recirculating water with full size trees tumbling around like bath toys in a toilet.
Lindsy and Gwen had lost it freaking out because my eye was gushing fluorescent red blood. I was not yet even aware I had been badly injured. By the grace of God we avoided the hole to the right. We finished the rapids and managed to creep into an eddy which was on someones front lawn. I remember they were watching Jerry Springer in their livin' room. We were in water up to our waists and flipped the raft back over. We opened the med kit and rapped my head in some flashy pink KoBan. We used the extra paddles and finished the run.
You might be saying pretty rad stuff Chaz! But alas the story is still not over. We went back to old forge Via Moose river road. By this time the moose river had overtaken the banks. and my old ass Audi was up to the hood in water...we did make the move however. got back to Old Forge and Gary gave a big chuckle and waved his index finger at me and said something funny with a hint of irony...I wish I remembered what it was. Then my little brother max drove me to Utica to See our friend Dr. Sleeper who stitched me up while his sons graduation party was going on at his house. I ended up with 28 stitches from me eye to my hairline. then I went to the graduation party with my dad and had a few beers and told my story! people think I'm an idiot but I'm just trying to have fun.
The Perfect God?
15 years ago
