Races and Carnage

So Christina Russell and I got the chance to head over to the Canyon Creek race this past weekend. The race had about 85+ people to show up and compete in R2, IK, and K1 events. We had some gorgeous weather that made the day that much better along with some good flows on Canyon Creek. Christina and I left Friday night after classes and drove up to the take out of Canyon Creek to camp for the night. Arriving at the take out we found around 35 other boaters doing the same thing. Both of us called it a night due to having an early start the next morning. Waking up at around 7am we got some breakfast and headed up stream for a quick warm up run down. This was only the second time Christina had seen Canyon Creek and my first. So it was in the best interest for both of us to get a quick lap on it before we decided to race down it. With a few other people, we got on the water at about 10am and started to bomb down the run.

Arriving on the first real rapids for the day, everyone made there way through with good lines. At this point we came to the rapid known as Prelude Thrasher. Unfortunately someone put the beta out there that it was Thrasher instead of Prelude. Todd and Conner went first followed by me. In my mind I was visualizing thrasher and the move that I needed to make for the rapid that I had seen in pictures.

Let me say real quick to I brought a new boat for the race, a Liquidlogic Remix 69, to get a little more length and speed for the race. This proved to be a bad idea due to the boat handling much different than my Liquidlogic Jefe that I have been paddling for the past two years.

The Picture Above is Prelude. I was stuck in the hole on the right side of the Picture. Thanks to oregonkayaking.net for the picture


Anyway, I dropped into Prelude Center Left/Left with a right angle which ended up putting me perfectly sideways into the worst part. Note that this rapid is supposed to be run center Right/far right! The left side of Prelude consists of a nasty ledge hole that is backed up by a rock wall creating a pocket hole that is nearly impossible to get out of without help. I ended up in a side surfing position with my head down stream against the rock wall. I could mange to hold my head above water with a solid brace and tried this for about 30 seconds or more. I tried to throw my bow/stern into the ledge hole to work myself free. Every time that I tried this, it pretty much did nothing to help my situation anymore due to the angle of the hole and rock wall. During this side surfing action Todd Baker was paddling up stream to try and give me his bow to pull me out. I saw him coming up and decided that it might be the best time to swim and try to grab onto his boat to get out. In my mind that process that would take place when I swam was that I would fall/push myself out down stream towards Todd’s boat and be able to grab onto it and escape the hole. The actual event was MUCH different than I expected!

When I pulled my skirt and pushed myself out of my boat I instantly got sucked underwater and lost all direction. I was caught extremely off guard and began to get recycled in the hole. The ledge hole began to push me down deep and let me up every 8 seconds or so to get a very very small breath of air before I would go under water again. After about 30 seconds of being recirculated I realized that I was not coming out of this hole by myself. I tried to go deep to escape the recirculating water but only hit the wall. The pillows of water coming off the wall push me back into the hole again. Getting another small breath of air I went deep again and I tried grabbing the wall to pull myself out, but only found smooth slippery rock. At this point I began to lose my energy due to not getting enough air. I kept trying different positions to get myself flushed out of the hole but nothing proved to work. A minute passed by and I came to the realization that this might be the place where I was going to die. Everything started to become a little more peaceful and I began to accept my fate. I lost almost all strength and things started go become black.

During my time in the hole Todd Baker was paddling like crazy below trying to get his boat in the position for me to grab when I was both in and out of my boat. He literally paddled back into the hole more than once to try and get me. The last time that I resurfaced, after the long struggle in the hole, he managed to be in the right place when I came up. His boat bumped me in the head (I don’t remember this) and I somehow got the strength to grab his boat. Todd paddled like hell backwards and pulled me free from the hole.

I know when dramatic things happen to you it is much different when your watching it vs. experiencing it. But I know for a fact that I was one recirculation away from drowning and Todd Baker truly did save my life.

After getting myself on shore I took awhile to recuperate before figuring out where all my gear had gone. Conner had managed to rescue my paddle but lost the boat down stream. Hiking down the side for a little while, I decided that I should head up and out of the canyon. Kim and Christina were both shaken up by the event and offered to hike out with me. We all started the bush whacking process up the hill until we came to a old 4 wheel drive road. We hiked along this road for an hour or so and managed to reach the main highway. Sitting along the highway a little while, we got a ride from a fellow boater down to the take out. Once we reached the take out it was already 12:30 and the race had begun. Unfortunately we were unable to compete for the day, but there is always next year!.

The next few hours Christina and I spent recuperating and talking with fellow boaters. I got some beta from people at the take out that my boat had been pulled out by Nate and Heather Herbeck and was sitting on shore above Champaign. We all sat around for the next few hours trying to find a ride back upstream with one of the motor boats taking spectators to the finish line.

With no luck, I decided to take my playboat and paddle the hour flat water to the finish line to try and rescue my boat. An hour or so later I reached the finish line of Canyon Creek which consists of a rapid called Toby’s. When I was paddling up, all the racers were coming down for the day. I got different beta about the hike up from Toby’s to Champaign, from one person saying it wasn’t to bad of a hike, and many others saying it would be an adventure trying to get up stream along the bank. The majority of the people were right, for when I got myself up there, it proved to be a lot more than I was expecting. Stashing my playboat at the bottom of Toby’s rapid, I started my hike up along the cliffs of Canyon Creek. Of course with the luck of the day, I ended up being by myself with no support if something went wrong.

Above is Champaign and Hammering Spot. I hiked up the left side of the picture along the cliffs. Thanks to oregonkayaking.net for the picture

Above is Toby's Rapid: Thanks to oregonkayaking.net for the picture

All I can say is that the hike back up stream is possible but has some scary parts that require rock climbing above a class 5 rapid. Climbing on vertical walls and bouldering my way through small cracks, I finally reach my boat above Champaign. All in all the hike back up stream took me 30-45 minutes. My boat was in good shape and I knew the only way to get it out was to paddle the last three rapids on Canyon Creek. Luckily I thought of this before my hike up and ended up wearing all my gear. So I jumped into my boat and paddled down to the lip of Champaign. I had talked with a few people about the lines you needed to take on all the rapids earlier that day, and remembered I wanted to go center left at Champaign, Right at Hammering Spot, and a center right boof at Toby’s. Feeling really nervous about being solo and just escaping death earlier that morning, I managed to fire off all the drops perfectly. I grabbed my playboat below Toby’s and towed it behind me for the 45 minute paddle across the lake water to the take out.

I reached the take out for the day thankful to be alive and exhausted from the events of the day. Everyone was in a good mood and ready to go party at Oly’s house. Christina and I jumped into my Tacoma and did the 25 minute drive to the party. The night was filled with live music, good food, and plenty of beer. That night both Christina and I slept like rocks from an adventurous day.