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Imagine 25+ boaters all up and down the rapid in Fire Escape. They were everywhere. Scouting, running, safety breaking, swimming, rope throwing, body boofing! Four flat pinned in the second drop, buried under falling water. Repeated big swims with some swimmers making perfect 8' boofs and others crashing hard. Amazingly only a throw rope was lost. There were probably 30 to 35 boaters total on the creek today. Ok now for my personal show. On the easy part of Richland just below the confluence I was last in the group of 11 and got too close to a massive undercut in a 2+ rapid and unseen FU rocks tossed me left into it (it really sucks to be so blind). I was stuck on a log with the undercut rock looming over my head and water rushing under me straight into it. Of course I flipped and was pinned upside down on the log in the opening to the undercut. It was sort of hard to reach the grab loop, but I did and tumbled out into the undercut. I was under there for a while. Long enough to think about how this could be bad. To feel myself pass between rocks and the log. To focus on the need to slow my heart to save air. To open my eyes and realize there was light nearby. To be surprised how long I could hold my breath. To be glad of the extra flotation of a drysuit, but through out I held onto the paddle! The problem was last in the group and no one noticed I went into the undercut, but because there were some many people, friends came along just at that point. I was fine, but now my boat was pinned on the log out of reach. Fortunately there were enough people there were could move the rather large log and the boat came free. Just as I got back into my boat, another swimmer was coming by and I retrieved his paddle. It was one of those days.
I hooked up with the group that helped me retrieve my boat and eventually caught up with my group who never realized I was gone. Like I said, it was a carnage madhouse today and none of this counted the carange from the boaters who were just doing the hike up Richland run!
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Sometimes you see the show. Sometimes you are the show. A carnage filled day on Hendy. New 
BoaterTalk 
