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2003 Gauley season to be exact. I had just got back into paddling that summer after a five year break- was still trying to figure out how the damn boats got so short any why I now needed two boats- I previously owned a Pirouette S, which was the first boat I ever cartwheeled (intentionally) and the first boat I ever ran Class 5 in.
So we head to Gauley, me with my brand new creek boat, a Wavesport Mutant, which to date I had paddled once on the nanty. We get there late on a friday afternoon, planning to stay a week. That night, Hurricane (Irene?) rips through, and everything is flooded. After poring over the gauges, the rest of the crew decides to head to the New Dries. Not wanting to miss out on "creeking", a few of us decide to go run Tygart/Arden, which looks like it's still ata reasonable level. We should have been suspicious that this was the ONLY river in a 200 mile radius still at a reasonable level.
Off we go, and when we arrive, we discover that apparently the water hadn't reached the gauge yet when we left. The river was running somehwere in the neighborhood of 30,000 cfs that day (normal is about 2-3K). Moats Falls was about a 5 foot drop- which you could barely see anyway due to the massive hole on river right blocking the view.
In our infinite wisdom, and determination to run SOMETHING, dammit, we drive down towards the takeout and see some locals getting off what we later found out was Teter Creek. Knowing absolutely nothing about this run, we ask them for advice. We are told the put in is about 1/2 mile upstream from a bridge crossing the river several miles up. They said check out the rapid under the bridge, it's one of the toughest on the run- if you think it looks good to go, you will *probably* be fine. Famous last words.
So we drive upstream and check out the bridge rapid- doesn't look to bad, long boulder garden, very fast at this level, lots of pin potential, but not too scary. We did notice that the creek was up in the trees on our drive up. So in an abundance of caution, we drive back downstream, and each time we see what looks like a major rapid, we get out, scramble down the steep gorge sides, and looks for wood and other hazards. About two hours later, we are finally back at the put in, confident that we were well prepared for what was ahead.
The first 1/2 mile or so was relatively flat, with a few class 2's, but really moving fast with the high water. The creek is also about 20 feet wide at the put in. We peel out, me in the lead, go around a corner not 50 feet from the put in, and what do we see but a tree about a foot in diameter laying the whole way across the creek about 3 inches off the surface.
I knew my best chance was to try and go over it, but since it was about 15 feet away, I didn't have a lot of time to build up speed. I hit it hard, slid up on the trunk, reached up to try to Superman over it- and promptly slid backwards, dropping my paddle and flipping over in the process. At this point I am sure I am dead, but after a few seconds of complete panic, it feels like I am moving downstream again. By the way, my handroll sucks. Desperation is the mother of invention, however, ad I knew a swim would probably result in me looking for my boat somewhere in Tygart Lake. After what I swear was about 10 attempts, I finally found myself upright. My two compadres were close behind, and luckily one had my paddle. They said they both did pretty much the same thing I did- talk about lemmings.
Luckily, the rest of the day (on the river) passed without incident, but I have never before had an oh shit moment like that while paddling. To complete the experience, the engine in my truck blew up on our way home, resulting in a $300 tow bill and a three week layover in Pittsburgh while I waited for a new engine.
Happy creekin,
Nat |
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In life there are many incidents... paddling-wise, one in particular comes to mind... New 
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