yeah, it's a powerful river.
It seems to get sandbagged a lot "It's not class V, it's only class IV" ect.
And while a good clean line in a raft or kayak certainly has a class IV flavor, this is definitely a very ancient riverbed. An honest-to-God class V riverbed.
One of the video boaters that works for the same raft company I've been guiding for this season helped pull him out.
These incidents are sobering counterbalances to all of the highjinks we get into out there in our mirthful quest for fun. Namely at "Pillow Rock", where the incident occured (It isn't called "Camera rapid"). I've heard the rapid rated "Class Fun", and it is a lot of fun. Many people intentionally jump off of Pillow and have great recreational swims there. Me, Fish, and Pernick were each jumping off of it just a few weeks ago.
Hopefully fatalities remind us all to simulatneaously observe some strict protocols of safety and awareness while we are engaged in this liquid circus we love.
Yesterday I greeted a young boater at the bottom of "Lost Paddle". Didn't see his crew.
Got all the way down to "Sweet's Falls" and hung out for a very long time watching the whole show. Saw the same young boater come through. Didn't see his crew.
Much later, when I got to the T.O. these guys were asking me if I saw a boater who they were supposedly paddling with. The description matched that of this solo boater I saw. "He's probably fine" I told them. after all, he made it through the last big rapid, "Sweet's Falls" just fine. What perplexed me is how or why they allowed themselves to get seperated from their bro all the way to the T.O.
Look, I just got my ass reamed by somebody because of the way I state my opinions about all of this bullsh*t. Fair enough. But it's a sincere response from me, how I process these events when they occur. Yeah, accidents can happen to the best of us, but accidents are often preventable as well. Can't say in this case. The details aren't available to disect.
And I know I am paddling in the shadow of the grim reaper as much as anyone else. I guess I just hope that by shoring up all of the little details (staying together and within sight of the members of your group, to name just one example) I can continue to enjoy these rivers in a safe way that doesn't sap all of the adventure out of it.
I'm not saying that separation or being left behind lead to this paddler's fate at all. Just that lots of different outcomes can unfold in surprisingly unique or familiar ways, and that, for me personally, minding any number of small details just may be the details that prevent tragedy from striking, if that makes any sense.
I don't know. I hope that the man spoken of in the article you linked to would be content to leave this world via the river. Being a veteran paddler, it's possible. Surely that doesn't provide much comfort to those close to him who now feel his loss. But for me personally I don't want to go out by way of a car crash, a murder, or cancer.
If the river tells me it's time to go, I'm cool with that.
The other thing that bums me out is the fact that Pillow is one of the two most busiest places on the river. There is nearly always at least a small throng of people at Pillow Rock. Boating through, hanging out on Pillow Rock proper, hanging out on R. Right taking photos, watching from the bank, ect. Most spectators tend to passively observe the carnage as it unfolds, to cheer, ect. So regardless of where this man's fellow boaters were at the time, there were plenty of people around.
It fell upon a video boater to take action and do something when (if not for his intervention) his obligatiions would have been to go catch up to the raft trip he was documenting. My helmet is off to you, Karl for doing something.
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