Major7's *MAJOR* Class IV Whitewater Disaster
The short non-scary version is this:
I somehow managed to not drown today.
First off, you need to know that I have been whitewater rafting for 15 years. However, all of my experience has been on The Nantahala River with a couple of Class II rapids and one small Class III rapid. Once, about 10 years ago, we went rafting on The Ocoee River in Tennessee and it is all Class III and Class IV rapids. In fact, this venue was the site of all the whitewater events during The 1996 Centennial Olympics. Here is a bit about this river...
Ocoee River Rafting
Whitewater Rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee!
Welcome to the Ocoee River! We have provided guided whitewater rafting adventures for 33 years. Since 1976 Ocoee Rafting has welcomed you to miles of challenging and exciting Class III and IV rapids on one of the country’s premier rivers. Experience Ocoee River Rafting and feel the excitement of whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River. The Ocoee River in Tennessee has become the most popular whitewater rafting adventure in America with over twenty continuous rapids and many play spots for miles of endless fun and adventure.
I went online and read about the river and knew that helmets were required, and I had remembered that from our trip a decade ago, so I went to Wal-Mart on the way and bought a helmet. I also bought a lock and chain as I was by myself and when I got out of the river I was going to have to lock my canoe up and hike back to the put out point about five mile upstream up the mountain. I was prepared for the hike and knew it would not be a problem I also knew that this was a controlled flow from a dam and that they stopped the flow around 4 pm so I figured that if I went in around late then I wouldn't hit the big rapids with the full flow of the water.
So off to Tennessee I drove after working in my mom's yard from 9am-2pm doing such things as topping all the blueberry bushes, trimming a huge Wisteria that had gotten out of control, hauling several stumps to the back of the property with the tractor and filling the trailer that is pulled behind the tractor twice with rocks that came up when we had the stumps pulled out of the ground. In other words... nice hard manual labor.
I arrived at the river with my CANOE - not a nice inflatable rubber raft, parked my truck, unloaded The Jill Monroe and carried her down to the base of the dam where you put into the river. There was one large group getting ready to go down the river and they looked like they were going to be the last group, so I decided that I would sort of go down with them *just in case* something might happen. It struck me as kind of odd that I did not see a single canoe or kayak at this spot. I would soon find out why!
I looked at the swiftly flowing water. I did not remember that the Class IV rapids started right at the very beginning of the river! I put in and started paddling. My plan was to sort of follow behind one of the guided INFLATABLE RAFTS.
FAIL does not even to begin to describe my next 30 minutes.
I hit the first rapid and the front of my canoe went underwater and I immediately had about 1/3 of my canoe filled with water. This was not good! I immediately started trying to paddle to the edge of the river. This was going waaaay too intense and I knew I needed to get out of the river! I hit the next set of rapids and my canoe filled completely with water and I was totally submerged, but at this point I was at least upright and submerged. Trust me, trying to paddle in a swiftly flowing river when one is submerged is no easy task. I hit the next set of rapids (keep in mind that this ENTIRE section of the river is Clas IV rapids) and my submerged boat resurfaced just long enough to flip me and it completely over. I lost my paddle, and even though I had another paddle strapped into my canoe, my canoe was now upside down and I am holding on for dear life. The boat got away from me but somehow I managed to grab hold of the end of the canoe where you hold it to carry it, and that is how I went through the next two sets of rapids... being dragged behind my upside down canoe.
I know I have been accused of being a drama queen on here before, but I am here to tell you that the following is what actually went through my mind at that point:
"Well fuck me running! I think I am going to drown! I think I might actually drown!"
Every time I came back up above water I tried to see where I was (and take a breath without swallowing more than a gallon or two of The Ocoee River) and I was not even close to the shore, and none of the rafts were anywhere to be seen. After another rapid that really fucked up my knees and right ankle from hitting all the boulders, I resurfaced and saw a huge boulder in the middle of the river. Honest to God, I used every bit of strength I had left and somehow got me and my canoe hooked around this boulder.
At this point, I knew, at least for the time being, I was ok. The water was pulling me on my side of the boulder and pulling my canoe on the other side of the boulder, and the pull seemed to balance me out so I did not slip off the rock. I tried several tmes to crawl up on it, but the rock was too slippery and the water was too fast. But at least my head was above water and I was not surveying the bottom of the river any longer with the bones in my legs.
After a bit, a raft came down the river and I thought it was fairly obvious that I was in distress, and this appeared to be a raft with a guide, so I did not feel the need to shout out for help. But the guide, or at least the person in the back of the raft who appeared to be a guide and who was seated where a guide would sit in a guided raft looked right at me and then looked away! Didn't call out and ask if I needed help or anything! Then another raft went down and obviously, due to the whitewater rapids and the fast current, they couldn't just glide over to help me, but they shot past me also! At this point, I really thought that my wrist was going to break from clinging to the canoe and I was able to pull myself around and grab it with the other hand.
When I turned around I heard someone shouting at me, and I looked over to the rocky bank and there was a rescuer there for me with a rope! He shouted that he was going to throw the rope and that I should let go of my canoe. I hollered back that I would slip back into the river if I let go and he said that he was going to throw the rope to me and I should grab it with my free hand and THEN I was supposed to let go of my canoe and he would pull me over to him as long as I could stay floating on my back.
Well, he threw the rope and it went right to me. I grabbed the rope and then I let go of my canoe and immediately went into the current, but he was nice and strong and he pulled me to him. I was saved! He then looked at my right leg and asked me if I could walk and I told him I could, so we started walking along the riverbank, which is really just rocks where the river meets the steep embankment. He told me that he was going to take me to a raft and the raft would take me to my canoe. I said "But my canoe is back there." turning and pointing to where I had been stranded. But my canoe was no longer there! Well, it had dislodged itself when I let go and a raft down the river had caught it and they were waiting on the other side of the Ocoee with my upside-down canoe. All of that happened as I was being pulled to safety so I guess my rescue took longer than I thought.
My rescue raft took me to my canoe and they pulled us over to rocks along the bank where they then deposited me. This was a tour raft so they needed to get back on their tour. I sat there on the rocks holding my canoe so it would not go back into the current and finally, they started closing the dam and the water started going down. I was able to flip my canoe over and get some of the water out but as I looked at the steep embankment I knew that in my current condition, there was no way I was going to be able to haul it up. I was exhausted and I was in some pretty good pain.
After about 15 minutes or so, some hippie-looking guys parked above me on the road and hollered down asking me if I was ok. I told them I had taken a spill. They said it happens to all of us. They asked me again if I was ok, and I told them that I had fucked up my leg and they crawled down the side of the bank, got my canoe, and pulled it up to the road for me. I chained my canoe to a sign post and then limped the one mile back to my truck. All in all, I had only gone one mile down the river! But most of it was in the river and not in my canoe!
I got home and had my mom take a look at me. She is a retired nurse. I am pretty banged up with lots of cuts, abrasions and swelling and a couple of rather impressive "goose eggs" one on my right knee, right ankle, and bridge of my right foot above the big toe. I have some impressive bruising on my left arm, and my fingers, which already have a bit of arthritis, are extremely stiff and sore which has made typing this manifesto a bit of a challenge with only three good fingers. My front right shoulder has a big bruise and there is a nice gash on my right shoulder blade which goes with all the gashes on my right foot, ankle, and leg. But nothing is broken as far as we can tell, and one of the advantages about having a nurse for a mom is that she has killer pain pills.
So I can promise you that I will never go down the Ocoee in a canoe ever again. In fact, since I lost both of my paddles and the middle seat/top of the cooler of my canoe got ripped off in the rapids and rocks, I will not be going on any body of water for a while.
I only wish that I had my camera with me right now so I could document my injuries, but I think that it will still be obvious when I do return home on Wednesday.
I somehow managed to not drown today.
First off, you need to know that I have been whitewater rafting for 15 years. However, all of my experience has been on The Nantahala River with a couple of Class II rapids and one small Class III rapid. Once, about 10 years ago, we went rafting on The Ocoee River in Tennessee and it is all Class III and Class IV rapids. In fact, this venue was the site of all the whitewater events during The 1996 Centennial Olympics. Here is a bit about this river...
Ocoee River Rafting
Whitewater Rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee!
Welcome to the Ocoee River! We have provided guided whitewater rafting adventures for 33 years. Since 1976 Ocoee Rafting has welcomed you to miles of challenging and exciting Class III and IV rapids on one of the country’s premier rivers. Experience Ocoee River Rafting and feel the excitement of whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River. The Ocoee River in Tennessee has become the most popular whitewater rafting adventure in America with over twenty continuous rapids and many play spots for miles of endless fun and adventure.
I went online and read about the river and knew that helmets were required, and I had remembered that from our trip a decade ago, so I went to Wal-Mart on the way and bought a helmet. I also bought a lock and chain as I was by myself and when I got out of the river I was going to have to lock my canoe up and hike back to the put out point about five mile upstream up the mountain. I was prepared for the hike and knew it would not be a problem I also knew that this was a controlled flow from a dam and that they stopped the flow around 4 pm so I figured that if I went in around late then I wouldn't hit the big rapids with the full flow of the water.
So off to Tennessee I drove after working in my mom's yard from 9am-2pm doing such things as topping all the blueberry bushes, trimming a huge Wisteria that had gotten out of control, hauling several stumps to the back of the property with the tractor and filling the trailer that is pulled behind the tractor twice with rocks that came up when we had the stumps pulled out of the ground. In other words... nice hard manual labor.
I arrived at the river with my CANOE - not a nice inflatable rubber raft, parked my truck, unloaded The Jill Monroe and carried her down to the base of the dam where you put into the river. There was one large group getting ready to go down the river and they looked like they were going to be the last group, so I decided that I would sort of go down with them *just in case* something might happen. It struck me as kind of odd that I did not see a single canoe or kayak at this spot. I would soon find out why!
I looked at the swiftly flowing water. I did not remember that the Class IV rapids started right at the very beginning of the river! I put in and started paddling. My plan was to sort of follow behind one of the guided INFLATABLE RAFTS.
FAIL does not even to begin to describe my next 30 minutes.
I hit the first rapid and the front of my canoe went underwater and I immediately had about 1/3 of my canoe filled with water. This was not good! I immediately started trying to paddle to the edge of the river. This was going waaaay too intense and I knew I needed to get out of the river! I hit the next set of rapids and my canoe filled completely with water and I was totally submerged, but at this point I was at least upright and submerged. Trust me, trying to paddle in a swiftly flowing river when one is submerged is no easy task. I hit the next set of rapids (keep in mind that this ENTIRE section of the river is Clas IV rapids) and my submerged boat resurfaced just long enough to flip me and it completely over. I lost my paddle, and even though I had another paddle strapped into my canoe, my canoe was now upside down and I am holding on for dear life. The boat got away from me but somehow I managed to grab hold of the end of the canoe where you hold it to carry it, and that is how I went through the next two sets of rapids... being dragged behind my upside down canoe.
I know I have been accused of being a drama queen on here before, but I am here to tell you that the following is what actually went through my mind at that point:
"Well fuck me running! I think I am going to drown! I think I might actually drown!"
Every time I came back up above water I tried to see where I was (and take a breath without swallowing more than a gallon or two of The Ocoee River) and I was not even close to the shore, and none of the rafts were anywhere to be seen. After another rapid that really fucked up my knees and right ankle from hitting all the boulders, I resurfaced and saw a huge boulder in the middle of the river. Honest to God, I used every bit of strength I had left and somehow got me and my canoe hooked around this boulder.
At this point, I knew, at least for the time being, I was ok. The water was pulling me on my side of the boulder and pulling my canoe on the other side of the boulder, and the pull seemed to balance me out so I did not slip off the rock. I tried several tmes to crawl up on it, but the rock was too slippery and the water was too fast. But at least my head was above water and I was not surveying the bottom of the river any longer with the bones in my legs.
After a bit, a raft came down the river and I thought it was fairly obvious that I was in distress, and this appeared to be a raft with a guide, so I did not feel the need to shout out for help. But the guide, or at least the person in the back of the raft who appeared to be a guide and who was seated where a guide would sit in a guided raft looked right at me and then looked away! Didn't call out and ask if I needed help or anything! Then another raft went down and obviously, due to the whitewater rapids and the fast current, they couldn't just glide over to help me, but they shot past me also! At this point, I really thought that my wrist was going to break from clinging to the canoe and I was able to pull myself around and grab it with the other hand.
When I turned around I heard someone shouting at me, and I looked over to the rocky bank and there was a rescuer there for me with a rope! He shouted that he was going to throw the rope and that I should let go of my canoe. I hollered back that I would slip back into the river if I let go and he said that he was going to throw the rope to me and I should grab it with my free hand and THEN I was supposed to let go of my canoe and he would pull me over to him as long as I could stay floating on my back.
Well, he threw the rope and it went right to me. I grabbed the rope and then I let go of my canoe and immediately went into the current, but he was nice and strong and he pulled me to him. I was saved! He then looked at my right leg and asked me if I could walk and I told him I could, so we started walking along the riverbank, which is really just rocks where the river meets the steep embankment. He told me that he was going to take me to a raft and the raft would take me to my canoe. I said "But my canoe is back there." turning and pointing to where I had been stranded. But my canoe was no longer there! Well, it had dislodged itself when I let go and a raft down the river had caught it and they were waiting on the other side of the Ocoee with my upside-down canoe. All of that happened as I was being pulled to safety so I guess my rescue took longer than I thought.
My rescue raft took me to my canoe and they pulled us over to rocks along the bank where they then deposited me. This was a tour raft so they needed to get back on their tour. I sat there on the rocks holding my canoe so it would not go back into the current and finally, they started closing the dam and the water started going down. I was able to flip my canoe over and get some of the water out but as I looked at the steep embankment I knew that in my current condition, there was no way I was going to be able to haul it up. I was exhausted and I was in some pretty good pain.
After about 15 minutes or so, some hippie-looking guys parked above me on the road and hollered down asking me if I was ok. I told them I had taken a spill. They said it happens to all of us. They asked me again if I was ok, and I told them that I had fucked up my leg and they crawled down the side of the bank, got my canoe, and pulled it up to the road for me. I chained my canoe to a sign post and then limped the one mile back to my truck. All in all, I had only gone one mile down the river! But most of it was in the river and not in my canoe!
I got home and had my mom take a look at me. She is a retired nurse. I am pretty banged up with lots of cuts, abrasions and swelling and a couple of rather impressive "goose eggs" one on my right knee, right ankle, and bridge of my right foot above the big toe. I have some impressive bruising on my left arm, and my fingers, which already have a bit of arthritis, are extremely stiff and sore which has made typing this manifesto a bit of a challenge with only three good fingers. My front right shoulder has a big bruise and there is a nice gash on my right shoulder blade which goes with all the gashes on my right foot, ankle, and leg. But nothing is broken as far as we can tell, and one of the advantages about having a nurse for a mom is that she has killer pain pills.
So I can promise you that I will never go down the Ocoee in a canoe ever again. In fact, since I lost both of my paddles and the middle seat/top of the cooler of my canoe got ripped off in the rapids and rocks, I will not be going on any body of water for a while.
I only wish that I had my camera with me right now so I could document my injuries, but I think that it will still be obvious when I do return home on Wednesday.