Current River Humble Pie With A Dash Of Reality.....

[GloryDaze]

Four years ago my wife and I started a little tradition where we would go on a 2 night 3 day float trip in late September or early October. You see, this is important to me as she only partakes in this long lived tradition with me once per year. Trust me, this is a good thing, and she knows it. We have the unwritten rule in our marriage that we encourage eachother to pursue our own hobbies while not expecting the other to participate. I camp and canoe and she runs marathons and Ironmans, so things work out just fine.

There is no doubt she is a girly girl and doesn't appreciate the finer things that I do when it comes to camping; sleeping on the ground, brushing my teeth with a stick, days without a shower, sand in my food. You guys all know what I'm talking about and probably could add a few that I didn't mention.

So I take this trip serious, you could call it my "show and tell" weekend- she loves it when I explain the the details of water levels and watersheds. Or the different characteristics of each stream I float and why I think it makes that stream special. But she particularly enjoys when I try and teach her the tools of paddling a canoe. You know, the strokes you use to turn left, right, slow down, speed up and on and on. Her favorite game to play is the old "if you were steering the canoe through this rapid what line would you take?" Ahhh... the finer thigs in life. But what makes this great for me is she takes most of it in gest and realizes, although she could really care less about all the stuff mentioned above, she knows that I get just as much joy out of sharing all this information with her as a kid during show and tell and she at least flatter me.

Sunday, we pushed off from Pulltite with the dog and limited supplies since we were just floating to Round Spring to pick up the car and then head back to Pulltite to camp for the evening. I decided to bring our really expensive camera to capture the fall foliage and hopefully get a couple "wall hangers"- It was a cool morning, probably in the low 50's and overcast as we made our way within sight of Pulltite Spring. There were a few people on the gravel bar cheking the spring out and I noticed what I thought would be an award winning picture with the bluffs, trees etc.... so I pull out the camera and start shooting. From the bow I hear "put that thing away, you are notorious for runining our good stuff." I of course tell her I've been floating 1,000 times and there is no need to................"

Next thing I know I'm under water trying to figure out what just happened- seems that literally right where the spring branch enters and the water gets deep there is a stump standing about 3" under the water. We hit that and kind of high-centered, she leaned one way and the dog leaned the same way at the same time and it was yard sale time. I could not touch as it was too deep, and frankly I was grasping for air as the cold water was keeping me from being able to take a deep breath. The dog is swimming one way, my wife the other and the canoe is sinking as it goes downstream.

When we flipped, my wife fell out right by the bluff on the right side so she swam over to the rocks. I on the other hand was right in the middle and was having trouble making progress towards the shore. Thankfully anothe kayaker was right there and she paddled over and let me grab on to her where I proceeded to catch my breath. She then helped me get to the gravel bar that is part of the Group Camp #2 campsite. Too keep this story from being too long, she ended up hiking up the trail and back to the campground and I paddled to Round Spring to get the car. Now, the story ends well, but I have to tell you there were a few lessons that I already knew, but obviously needed to be reminded of here:

1) Never take things for granted- as many times as I float I assumed everything would be just fine and we would NEVER flip

2) Be prepared- I'm not saying I will always wear a lifejacket, but should have had extra clothes, paddle etc... I was fortunate this happened within walking distance of Pulltite.

3) Compensate for the dog- it's amazing what 50lbs of force can do when it all leans to one side at the same time

4) I needed to be humbled a little- I have never, never sunk a canoe in 25+ years of paddling. But I realized just how fast things can go wrong.

5) darn that water is cold! I had no idea I wouldn't be able to respond to swimming due to the cold.

6)Always, I mean always listen to your wife when she says to put the camera away!! I got more dung about the camera then I did flipping.

All in all, it was just another day in paradise- leaves were beautiful, river was in great shape and I got to spend another weekend showing my wife what a great paddler I was. Doesn't get much better than that!!

[gramps50]

Good story and I think there is a message in there somewhere. I'm still laughing, could have been much worse. Glad to hear that the wife, dog & you escaped without out harm.

How did the humble pie taste? ;-)

[Justin Spencer]

Any pictures

[junkman]

I have never went on a canoe trip that I didn't get wet. Seems to always be something. I know the last time I told myself and my occupant that we are not going to get wet today. 100 yards from the put in a women holding a child got into the current and was being swept out into water over here head. So had to lay the canoe over to save the women and kid.

[405z06]

I had a period a couple of years back that I seemed to tip over just about every float. l lost 1 rod on the Meramec and two more (all Loomis) on the Courtois. I got to the point that I wouldn't take any nice equipment or phone/camera in a canoe. Now i've gone through a long stretch where I haven't tipped over.

Last year I was on the Meramec in a jon boat in Jan. It was about 34 degrees. I was standing and saw an eagle overhead, looked up and lost my balance and fell in, mid-channel. I was soaked head to toe. Somehow kept ahold of my rod. Like the OP, the cold of the water knocked the air out of me. Didn't have any back-up clothes. We had about 3-4 miles left on the float, but it really wasn't as bad as I woulda thought. My buddy was freaking out thinking I was going to get hypothermia.

[Gavin]

Sorry for your loss...but it was just a bit of pride and a camera. Thats a really cold spot on the river. Pulltite Spring is right upstream...and Fire Hydrant sping is in that deep hole hole were you went swimming.

[Al Agnew]

When you've been floating for as long as I have, it's always complacency that gets you. If something looks REALLY difficult, I'm usually pretty careful and handle it just fine. It's the spots that look just a little tricky but that I just KNOW I can handle with no problem that end up being my downfall. For some reason, the Courtois just eats my lunch. I've gotten wet on the Courtois four times, and lost two rods, every time within the first three miles or so below Hwy. 8. First time I was fishing so hard I didn't see the snag that I high-centered in fast water. Canoe immediately turned sideways, and was starting to tip when I bailed out. It got a lot of water in it but didn't flip. Second time was in an fast run with a LOT of overhanging brush. I was so busy dodging the brush, was bent over as low as I could go...and didn't see the log just under the water that I hit, turned sideways, and flipped, losing a rod. Third time my wife and i were floating in the tandem canoe, and she got out and was going to stretch her legs by walking to the other end of an island. I told her I'd take the canoe down and pick her up. There was a big stump right in the middle of the fast, narrow riffle, but I didn't think it would be any big deal to miss it. Well, I kinda forget that the canoe doesn't handle the same when you're in the back seat and there's nobody in the front seat, and I somehow hit that stump and flipped, nearly wrapping the canoe around it. Lost a rod that time, too. And the last time was late this past summer. There was log completely across the channel in fast water, but geez, the creek was very low and there wasn't all that much water going over and under the log. I figured it would be no problem. There was one spot where there appeared to be plenty of depth over the log to slide over it. I aimed for that spot, and was going really well when I hit the snag I couldn't see in the fast, choppy water 15 feet or so above the log. It was a glancing blow that immediately turned the canoe partly sideways and away from the deeper spot. I hit the log sideways, and as I bailed out on the upstream side the canoe tipped and wedged itself open side upstream against the log. After considerable grunting and groaning and a severely strained or torn muscle in my elbow, I got the canoe turned completely upside down and wedged UNDER the log. Luckily, the bottom there was smaller, loose gravel, and the current quickly hollowed out a deeper hole underneath the canoe, and it finally slid on under the log and out the other side. Didn't lose anything, although it took me a while to find a couple of rods, and the rest of the float was rather painful paddling with the elbow.

[ColdWaterFshr]

Its been a while since I took a swim, but as you point out Glory and also Al -- its totally a complacency thing -- I've had lots of close calls when I wasn't paying attention or underestimated a turn or the current.

I've made it a habit to be prepared with a dry bag and change of clothes -- at least when it is cooler weather.

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, in cool weather I don't get nearly as complacent. I used to, though, back in the days when I still thought I was invincible. I'd go out in the middle of the huge, 50 ft. deep gravel pit hole at the 67 bridge on lower Black River in the middle of the winter in my solo canoe, and never even have a life jacket on. Had something happened to flip me out there, I'd have been deader than a hammer.

[Jeff Tief]

Hey Al,any chance you might recreate that scene in any upcoming art work;probably would be an instant best seller on this website.