# How many swims for you scubs?



## mvhyde (Feb 3, 2004)

*ummm haven't had a swim since.....*

2 years ago I had a couple on the Numbers. Number 5, clocked my head on a rock, knocked me to the backdeck, tried to roll, got clocked again in the head and knocked to the foredeck, started seeing stars and feeling woozy, I pulled the loop.

Had a second swim somewhere down the line from there, not even sure why. My excuse was and is, I drove the night before to hook up with Tomcat and some other guy who drove down from the front range. I forgot Wolf Creek Pass was closed for construction during the night and spent a long huge sleepless night in my Samurai which is not built to be slept in by a 6'4" lanky tard like me. 

Flame away.....


----------



## steven (Apr 2, 2004)

last swim was ice lakes creek [trib of s. mineral] in 2001. no excuse, got spun on the top of the 1st of the 3 biggish ones, took the biggest one upside down and landed upside down, thus falling out of my boat [ha!] and swimming in the cauldron above the last falls. it sucked my savage scream behind the falls into a cave and kept it for awhile, until we were able to prod it out with a long log. i was lucky to have not suffered the same fate. kind of started to tone it down about then. really toned it down since my twin girls were born 3 years ago, but came really close to pulling on the futa [class 3] last winter.


----------



## Mut (Dec 2, 2004)

Gary, we haven't met bt i am friends with jerimy and Scott. I think you were going to borrow my mx before you had shoulder surgery. Sorry to hear about the cankle.

Funny shit calling Scott out. This spring he told me that he never swims. He must have meant unless he swims.

My last swim was lower death on Barrel. two years ago. New playboat, new bent shaft, medium water and the first time kayaking for the year. I was nervous before I got in and when I went to peel out i took two huge slice strokes. My pathetic strokes made me more scared. I froze like a board, went over the first pourover and flipped. I was pushed hard left and was getting raked over the rocks. I bailed. once i realized that i was 3 feet from shore i felt like a total jimmy (sorry all you jimmy's). J-bo ran my boat down and Tommy Hilikie(sp) pointed me to my paddle. The only thing i lost were my crocs, and that is becasue j-bo wouldn't lend me his caribener to clip them in. He said he used it to keep his skirt up when walking. I did find one of the crocs floating at the takeout.


----------



## Yonder_River (Feb 6, 2004)

I've had three swims this "season"....most I've ever had. 

First: Swam on first ledge of Fall In The Wall, S. Fork Snoqualmie. Was worried about getting wedged in pin rocks.....this swim definitely should not have happened.

Second: Swam out of Initiation on the Top Tye. Sticky eight foot ledge below Box Drop. Got sucked back in, made a few attempts to get out then remembered the three others behind me that were about to boof on my head. Didn't want to risk it and pulled since there was a small recovery pool nearby.

Third: Just over a week ago. Flipped at the crux ledge in P.O.W. on Tumwater Canyon, rolled, flipped, rolled, sucked into large hole with no breath. Pulled with no air left. 

I'm proud to say, I self-rescued myself and all my gear each time though. Nonetheless, I'm hoping for a better winter season.


----------



## El Flaco (Nov 5, 2003)

Judgment Cometh From 'He Who Needs Training Wheels on His Huffy'.

Swim # 1 - Like practically everyone else this year, I took a swim on Bear this year. One of those easy, non-descript slides below No-Fun, I think around 380. I went for a boof on the far left side, and when I cleared the hole and skimmed over the backwash I rammed the wall bow-first on the left side, whipping me straight backwards (like one of those bungee-leases you see on kids at the WalMart). I immmediately fell into a slowly-melting side-surf in aerated water, and figured out pretty quick that I was going to window shade or sink without getting let go. I pulled the skirt while trying to maintain a one-armed side surf, all the while looking at Corey and his goddammed smirk as I proceed to go under. The boat gets swept downstream into a pin that required 5 guys & a z-drag to dislodge.

Swim #2 - Thought I saw a 'sweet' left-to-right move in the top drop of the Black Rock Narrows. Just so y'all know, the move is still right or right-to-center. I charged across but still got broached on the fang rock on center right. After getting stuffed at zero speed on the hole beside the fang, I get swept into that mass of rocks on the right side and take shots to all exposed parts. Luckily I get pushed into an eddy on the right; my boat went down to the river left 2 drops below Mr. Bill. 

Swim #3 - Repa destroys his hand playing Tarzan in the Third World, so I buy his SCUD from him so he can pay 1/254th of his surgery deductible. In my infinite wisdom, I decide that test-driving this fine example of Kiwi Hole Bait is Bailey at 600. I barely handle my business until just beyond Trashcan(walked Max, BTW), where I decide to check the boofing capabilities of a boat that is about the same height as my wife. There's a river wide hole that comes in the boogie water section about a couple hundred yards below Trashcan. I believe it's snuck up on many other boaters too. Oblivious to an easy tongue on the far right, I try boofing the pile off a flake on the left side. I make the boof, but I get a repeat of Swim #1- smack the rocks on the side with my bow, and lose all downstream momentum....which is hard to re-establish in a pygmy creekboat. The backwash catches me with enough time to spin the boat towards the hole and try to get set up to surf the hole across the river right. T-Boner looks upstream at this moment, seeing me deliberately paddle into this boat-eater from the eddy, and thinks, "This assclown is going to get destroyed".
And I was destroyed. BUT- After I punched, I got swept into an eddy on the right with my boat and all my gear. Walked Deer Creek for the first time (non-crippling-hangover-affected) since my first Bailey run..with you, Gary

My blanket excuse for swimming: "That f'ing rock stole my line!" Feel free to use it.


----------



## RealitySheriff (Oct 16, 2003)

Interesting how I get called out in a swim story thread when I didn't even get to hit the water this year.

BTW Flaco, is that SCUD big enough to fit your ego comfortably? I know how you were concerned.


----------



## JCKeck1 (Oct 28, 2003)

As a man of a few swims, I hate talking about them. They always seem so ridiculous after the fact. Looking back, I'm glad I swam maybe twice in my career.

I'm at two this year. One was highly embarrasing while in front of the tRL crew on Clear Water Creek in WA. It meerly involved me surfing a hole that I thought was all good for a minute or so and then getting into a high brace where I felt my shoulder pulling. That and the events that followed lead the group to hike out, but as TG said, "We had this planned for you all along. You come to the PacNW and you will hike out of something." Also I managed to recover my paddle from a cauldron by throwing my rope in and waiting until it tangled as I tried to set up a rapel without the proper gear.

The second was on the embudo at 3.4, which Atom tells me is when most people get beat because "it's fast and pushy, but the holes haven't sluiced yet." There, the ego feels better, but I'm sure you boys will help check it. Anyway, got upside down in long rapid and raked. Should have waited longer. Boat went below MJ. The hike out from Long rapid truly sucks and I did it on a rainy day without seeing a single rattler.

Two isn't a bad season for me. I also think if you're not swimming from time to time you're either running the same stuff again or you're not gettin out enough.
Joe


----------



## Livingston (Jan 8, 2004)

*a pretty good excuse*

I thought I was going to get away from the season clean... Then Burns and I ran Black Rock in the TopoDuo. So 1, Clear Creek Narrows. There is still Gore and Gauley season though.

Once I had 6 by the end of April, now that was a good year.

Craw, didn't you have had a record year? Yet I don't recall a single booty beer. Why don't you throw a little Gauley planning party and we'll all get caught up on the beers owed? 

-d


----------



## Gary E (Oct 27, 2003)

Liv, swimming in a topo is not swimming. LMAO, you are a freakin stud! Who the hell wants to topo black rock? Was this a drunken "good idea"? God, the big three would be rowdy.

Have a funny story- in 00/01 Robby Dastin and I did the gore race in one. We kept saying we should practice first as I had never sat in one. Race day comes and I still had never sat in one. All our buddy's are like you two are gonna get destroyed, blah blah. 

As we are sliding down the hill I'm scared shit less. I strap a pair of balls on the back grab loop given to me by Tom Chamberlin to remind me to sack up. As we get to the first drop, we are solid and good. 

We start coming into gore, I tell Robby were going left left and hitting that shit with our heads. About this point Robby and I begin to argue as he wants to sneak. WTF, Dastin. See Robby is a total monster in a kayak and never sneaks anything, he was compromised. So I tell his sorry ass, you paddle for the sneak and I'll paddle for the meat. We will then wrap on that rock and swim this shit, what's it gonna be? As we enter on the right I'm scared and know this is the end of our race. The crowd is disgusted as we enter thinking we are sneaking the rapid, then the boats turns to 10 o clock and we head for the big line. 

The crowd went crazy, they were so loud I started laughing. We boof the left left line and get washed into ginger for a side surf and work out and off to the finish with another meat line at tunnel. Again the crowd goes nuts. It was classic.

The level was 1400 for the race and we won and also stomped the vail choads record from Ebel and Blount. Vail sucks! Didn't you have a swim Charlie this year? 

Needless to say Liv, I've haven't been in a topo since. I also had to give chunderboy 7 stitches in his chin after the race. Was an awesome day with one of my best buddy's. 

Nice work Liv! That's tough.

Gary


----------



## tboner (Oct 13, 2003)

just one for me out of Dead Hiker and you all got my intimate perspective on that first hand. my excuse is that i followed behind Dave Frank (Senior Captain of all Who Swims) without scouting to make sure he made it out first. his big ass boat makes for a terrible floating undercut.

now that we're all waxing poetic... i want to hear all the stories of chasing boats and rescuing pinned boats. i had my fare share of boat extractions this year. the most exciting for me was chasing Captain Frank's boat from 4 Falls to Super Max. good damn that boat is heavy... i tethered onto it and got it out at the portage eddy above Super Max with Jason's help. i almost blew a tube paddling for that eddy. -t


----------



## routter (Mar 10, 2004)

I have to look back to April of '06 for my last. Whiteline at 1'- something following movie night and many, many drinks at BOC. A six a.m wake up call had me paddling w/ ES and NH. I missed the boof. NH followed and landed on my head. I maytagged for a while longer, swam into the eddy river left and promptly crapped my pants and puked all over the place. Tasty.


----------



## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

I finally had my first flip at Sock-it-to-Me on Westwater back in April. Its the rapid I always warn folks about and it got me when I was taking a different line through it than my usual right side run. Knowing that I was with a rock-solid crew I tried running on the left side of the wave, & got surfed over into it where I did a nice corkscrew. 

The only thing I lost was my Bama ballcap, a disposable water bottle or two & one of the oarlocks got bent when the boat was spinning off the magnetic wall - pretty good for a fully rigged raft. 


SYOTR,

-AH


----------



## jonny water (Oct 28, 2003)

Luckily I haven't swam in ~10 years....in fact I haven't swam in colorado and have lived here 7 years. Anyway, enough ringing my own stupid bell....last time I swam i got stuck in Woodall Shoals on the Chattooga (famous for killing swimmers). I was in there for quite some time and kept rolling up and recirq-ing until i found myself deep down in the meat. I couldn't get out and was running out of energy....swam and my boat and I were both recirq-ing over and over....found myself suspended under the undercut rock ceiling, underwater with my head lower than my body...grabbed rock, pulled myself into the cave and pushed down, balled up and prayed. Flushed along the river bottom and came out only to be heading toward another undercut and got hit with a throw bag. Layed out on the rock for 15 mins to catch my breath and waited for my boat to flush out....I side-surfed that hole so hard that I ripped the cock-pit clean off the plastic on the sides of my RPM. Quit kayaking for 6 months.


----------



## Cutch (Nov 4, 2003)

I'm clean this season. A few beatings, but I'm mostly just way overdue to get throttled. You can expect a story the next time I do. In the meantime I'll pick on Fred. 

Front Range Fred has been having a banner year. I think he's at 5, but the first two were stupid, step out of your boat type things. 

The third was classic. Just Fred and I putting on to USB at 5:30 pm at 600 cfs. We portage the new log below Gash, and as I'm getting in Fred mentions something about scouting Lumberyard. I'm thinking that's a stupid idea because I've never scouted it before. I didn't even know the name until after this day. I tell him I'm just going to eddy hop down. 

So I'm rolling up to the lip and can't see anything and it looks kinda big, so I catch the eddy at the lip on the left, which is big enough for 1/2 a boat. I look back to see Fred right behind me and eddyless. He yells to me, "You Fucker!" and charges full speed into the lip. He proceeded to get throttled in the ledge hole, which is backed up by bedrock. With his head submerged, the hole would put him in a back-ender splat at the back of the hole, and the boat would inch up and then slowly fall back into the trough for a continued beating. I don't think his head reached the surface through three sets of ends. It was his first day in his Burn, and it pinned under a log, on the upstream side of a rock in the center of the river. An hour later the two of us are standing on it to pop it back into shape in a rain storm. 

We portaged every rapid below that, and the in-between stuff was some of the biggest whitewater I ran this year. The stuff from LZ to RIMBY was insane. Would have been great, but the new wood put a damper on things. 

----------

He had another on Harmon, which I heard was horrible, but didn't witness. I think it was the worst. Very ligit as well. 

His most recent was Tunnel at 2700. The move itself is actually really easy, but he tried to get fancy and cut it tight. I didn't see much of it, even though I was right behind him, but here's why it's worth mentioning. 

In the time that it took for me to catch one extra eddy (river left, at the lip), he managed to swim and then self-rescue himself and his boat in the first river left eddy. As I paddled into the runout pool I look over to see him on shore dragging his boat over. I didn't even believe that he swam until he signaled to look for his paddle. In all my years of paddling I've never witnessed a more impressive self-rescue. I waived the booty beer, but he still had to by me ice cream. 

Things I love about paddling? Watching your favorite paddling partners get beat down.


----------



## benpetri (Jul 2, 2004)

Haven't had major kayak carnage in 2 years. Just a class II broken paddle / log swim in Bailey last year. Last major episode was in Rigo at about 650 cfs, when I completely blew the line. I went for the far left slot entrance, only to spin on a simple eddyline like a newbie and enter backwards. I get'er turned around only in time to drop into the meat slide like a no momentum sack of shit against the left wall. Flip, upside through the rest of it, get stopped in the bottom hole, worked for a little bit, but bail pretty quicky as its been awhile since I the world above water. I get rescued via throwbag right way, but my creeker yard saled for a 1/2 mile and hasn't looked quite the same ever since.

Last fall though, I took up rowing gearboats as an additional hobbie and have already racked up some good carnage. Hit Cataract in October at an amazing 20000-30000 cfs. I rowed the top (crux) of Big Drop II just fine, only to get out in the middle of the river with the perfect mid-afternoon sun-glare on the water so you couldn't read water any more than 10 ft in front of the boat. Somewhere down there was a frickin massive pourover that had my 12' boat's name on it. No one saw my mishap as they were already scouting Big Drop III but it must have been entertaining as I remember high-siding and being completely underwater at the sametime. I knew it was futile at the time but thats what you're supposed to do. A few seconds later it flipped and I didn't really feel like swiming #3 without no clue as to the line, so I hightailed it to shore. Boat soloed upsidedown through 3 more rapids before it caught and eddy and washed up on shore.

That one still stings. Fuckin sun! There were big green tongues on either side of that damn pourover and I just couldn't see'em.


----------



## Dave Frank (Oct 14, 2003)

Thanks for this opportunity, Gar. I've been looking for the right venue to share my swimming prowess. As Trevor hinted at, '07 has been a tough year for "Captain Frank". I believe I am significalntly ahead of FRF. I will speak of the highlinght, but the total number, however will remain undisclosed.

For the first time in a long time I get to claim two days as double headers.

early season Bear ck run, I landed no fun sideways, and was stuck sidesurfing the hole on my "bad shoulder". with no effort at escape, I pulled to limit further shoulder injury. 100% self rescue, no problem. Continuing on just fine, eddy scouting the lip at Lair of the Bear, my paddle was "stolen", by the not so low hanging tree branch at the lip of the drop. Flushed over upsidedown and paddleless. Pulled immediately. Thanks to JR for chasing the somewhat beaten hercules to the takeout.

The next double header has been witnessed by many on the you tube source clip that featured 7 swims. I almost excaped recognition, by wearing a borrowed, red dry top.

first swim was gettinmg flipped in fast, shallow (what else is there) class II. Should have been able to get up, but I really don't like being raked over the coals, which I did mostly avoid, by pulling quickly. Back on the creek, after unpinning several other boats, we find ourselves eddied out in the Z turn, right above the crux, at dead hiker. Trevor and I usually communicate well on the river. With a quick exchange of head nods, we both peeled out from opposite sides of the river, at the same moment, with me leading, due to position in the current. In an effort to increase our distance, I charged hard, hit the gaurd rocks on the right, and was fed down the skewed fall line into the left lide of the lip and into the hole, where I sidesurfed and tried to dig out, while waiting for the inevitable crash from Trevor's incoming Salto. I pulled right before he got there and watched my boat head right back into the pourover. TRevor dropped in under my boat and came shooting back out the other side in a verticle backender. I suspect his head hit my boat as he re-surfaced, which completed his back flip and left him in the hole, while my boat flushed out, with me following on my ass in 6 inches of fast water, where I got a well thrown rope from a spectator, who suspected more carnage might ensue. Second swim of the day, as well as second swim out of that hole for the season. DH is a drop I 've run dozens of times since the first D in '99 with no previous carnage. I guess my number was up.

Trevor mentioned the most recent one where he got to chase my boat from 4 falls all the way to supermax. I reccomend this stretch to be paddled, not hiked.

I think there ws one more, but it must have been extra dumb, because I can't remember where it was. Oh yeah, the right wall below elbow falls at 1000 cfs. There you are, I believe I am in the lead with SEVEN.

Thanks, GAR!


----------



## WW Lush (Dec 26, 2003)

I have not swum this season as of yet and am proud as I have been in some big holes.... But this makes me think of my "favorite" swims. ..

Escalante in Waterslide: Read too much in the book about it and as I entered the drop at high water I knew there was a bad hole on the right side. Sure enough I was looking for it and where do you think I went...

Gilman gorge in slurry pipe: Ouch I know... Again I think I scouted the huge hole in the entrance for too long knowing I did not want to go there. Sure enough went straight into it. Did some fancy cartwheels for a while, got out, went into the next hole for a joyride again, made it upright just before the ledgedrop which I went over right side up. Still trying to get my composure flipped again and soon found myself scraping my helmet on rocks and figured I would bail before getting knocked out. I was a bit dizzy afterwards for my hike out. 

And my dumbest swim on Clear Creek of the Ark: Just after the crux boof which I cleaned I decided to catch a non-eddy which I thought was an eddy, got sucked out the back of it and under an undercut pinning me, did a backwards flip out of my boat and made it to shore. 

Lessons learned- look where you want to go, not where you don't! And make sure the eddy is a good eddy!


----------



## thecraw (Oct 12, 2003)

I am at 4 this year. Probably the most I have had in a single year after the "formative years".

The Source was an experience of back deck face riding (thank god for the full face!). Also a nice hole ride in the 2nd hole above no fun was quite an experience. That is the one and only full on hole ride I have had so far this season. I flat out was exhausted and there was no way I was going to swim over the falls. Needed some strength to aquaman it to shore, which I did only after an awesome body roll over the shoulder of rocks just above and to the left of the last hole before the falls. Ended up floating in the shallow eddie with pretty sore ribs. Classic. 

OH, it's actually 5! I forgot about the last one. I have to call it a swim, because I did get out of my boat, but was literally pinned in class II water on the last section to the takeout of the Big South. Lame, but couldn't get off this sidepin and after taking one hand off the paddle to work off the rock and then getting throttled upside down was a lame excuse, but a swim nonetheless.

Been a good year for swims for most paddlers I talk too. I hope next year I have secured enough swimming credits to make it through with out a swim...

I think the only year I haven't swam was two seasons ago.

Livingston... I am totally down for a Gauley Showdown. I owe it, and will pony up.


----------



## doublet (May 21, 2004)

I was at a bar with my wife on a Friday night and said "I've seen so many people swim this year, WTF? I haven't pulled the skirt in 9 years!" I don't say shit like that anymore...

The next day I let my guard down a little early in Supermax. After some "old school playboating" in the bottom hole I pulled. Luckily the swim was painless and I retrieved all my gear. At least my ego is now back in check.


----------



## TimWalker (Oct 25, 2003)

None this year...knock on logs. Two years ago, Pauley creek in Cali got me. Super fun and easy creek set me up, the bitch. I was coming down one of the many 8 to 10 foot falls, in a Riot Sniper, which likes to back ender(if you're slacking), which I was and it did. I rolled up very quickly in the hole, cartwheeled and face planted right into the cliff wall on river right side of hole. I swam but recovered my composure at the end and ran Pauley Falls.

One of my favorite swims was getting my Savage Fury sucked off my body in Gore. That shitty boat made me swim more than any other, always blowing skirts.

Favorite near swim/hole ride - 11 mile canyon the year they drained Antero reservoir(I'm thinking 800 cfs). That drop somewhere in the middle of the whole run. It has a nasty ledge hole after constricting and coming down a speedy green tongue. Well, that hole grabbed me and my XXX and I went for a ride - about five minutes. Enough time for my buddy to help rescue the guy that came down after me, get him to shore, run back up and offer a rope, which I waived off, and I finally figured out how to escape the hole and not get tossed back in by the cliff and rock backed river left eddy.


----------



## Livingston (Jan 8, 2004)

I think my favorite was up on the Cal-Salmon. We were running a new to us section and we came up to a horizon line. I happened to be leading at the time so I pulled over to scout. Easy class III drop. I yelled back down to Craw, Booth, Peter, and Breck to go left of the entrance rock and exit the rapid to the left to avoid a nasty looking hole on river right with an overhanging cliff.

Everyone cleaned it and caught the enormous eddy on the left... which gave them a good view of what was to come.

I got back in the 3Fun, decided to start right of the rock and then cut left as there looked to be plenty of time. I got squirted a little bit at the start and by the time I brought the nose down I didn't have time to make the move left. So I decide to punch it. Wham, stopped, flipped, paddle gone, WTF?, swim. Yeah I know, the only person to look at the thing swims it, they thought that was pretty funny too.

The section was so good though, we all decided to run it again the next day. I opted for a creekboat this time. I got a little shit but everyone probably thought I was shaken up from the swim the day before. When we got back to that drop, I lined that thing up and started windmilling my paddle. I had so much speed I had trouble keeping the boat on line (and that boat was new to me since I broke the Gradient in Bear earlier (which may have contributed to a swim that day too)). So anyway, I get some speed and punch it. Wham, I start to climb out the other side and was about to pass the peak of the foam pile when my momentum was overcome by gravity and the hydraulic of this deep dark hole. My second ride in this monster may not have been successful, but it was one to be proud of. I almost got out once, maybe twice. I'll get through it one day.

-d


----------



## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Now _that's _entertainment. 

D


----------



## Gary E (Oct 27, 2003)

My favorite swims- 1 Forrest Noble in Deer Creek at 2g. The level was big and all him and I could talk about was running the big falls. When we got there it was clear thats all we were gonna do was talk about it. 

After 25 minutes of talking Forrest out of it, we start heading down the river. We are with two awesome Cali boaters and they are already scared of Forrest. We get to this horizon line and I jump out and take a quick look. Theres a huge hole and I see the line. Give forrest the beta and as he starts to peel out I yell wait! You better look. 

Meanwhile the brains of our group Gordon Banks who hates holes more than anyone, cause you actually have to paddle through them, finds a chicken route far right. So now the 2 cali boaters, forrest and I are looking at the hole. Forrest walks up to it, says my directions are great and whats the problem? I'm like-- I think you're gonna hit that wall get stopped and beaten brutally. Than Dave S goes why don't we just run where Gordo ran? Forrest looks at him and says that's class 3, this is class 5! Looks at me as he gets in his boat and says thats not a hole, watch this. Brutal swim! I loved it.

My favorite was in supermax. The week before we were paddling the embudo and below cheesegrater Paul Zirk gets caught in a hole 4ft from shore. I hop out of my boat and yell to Paul to hold on as I could reach his grab loop. He pulls and swims. Once out of his boat he stands up 4ft from shore in just above knee deep water looking at me. He's like wtf! So beening a good boating buddy, while he's standing there watching his boat float away, I toss my rope over his shoulder. He grabs it and throws it back at me and says FU! 

So back to Supermax, I'm in a centerfuge and the level is 350ish. My safety- Paul Z, Rasta. I enter and get back endered in the second entrance slide and roll just in time to vertical pin under the rock. My elbow pads and helmet get pulled off by the force and I'm stuck. I pull and swim only to have Rasta rope me and Zirk to get my shit. Zirk made me buy back one of my elbow pads. Was a great swim. 

Another good one was Rigo at 950. I had been running it everyday from 1900 to that day. I must have paddled it 30 times over 1500 in two weeks. 

I was with Tim Kelly and hadn't been upside down in rigo in 5 yrs. I enter perfect, which usaully means the run is casual. I hit the right wall lateral and get back endered upside down. Instead of listening to my boy Forrest(who is upside down a 1/4 of the time) and staying upside down and doing pull ups, I roll instantly and fall into the hole. Takes me about 20 seconds to get stable in a side surf, the hole keeps pulling me into the left hole in the wall. More trashings over there and get stable again in a side surf and pull while I'm upright. Using a hand on my paddle along with the boat I'm able to low brace and stand and jump out past the hole. Swam as Hard as I could to get around the lower boulder on the right. 

When I hit the right side of the boulder I went deep and resurfaced half way under the bridge. Swam out exhausted at the lower put in only to realize my pants were pulled around my ankles and stuck on my shoes. I Layed on the shore, half in the water with my pants down for 10 minutes. Brutal swim.

Swim3- Gordo aka the victim. We were paddling Spencer at 4.5ft. We get to bone yard and I'm like "whats the line here"? Beav looks at me and is like "you can go left, you can go right and the middle is ok also. So paddling with him forever, I know, back off and watch as he has no frickin clue where the hell he's going. Than he goes, oh and watch out at the bottom, theres a big wave, but it might be a hole at this level. 

We enter middle and wham! First hole gordo is upside down, he rolls and drops into a bigger hole. Beating starts and I'm getting closer to him as he misses 3/4 rolls due to dropping into holes or hitting rocks. He swims and grabs my boat and climbs on the back deck. We are going down this thing vertical and out of control. 

I get Gordo 5ft from shore and tell him to get off and get out. He lets go only to regrab me. See most of you don't know, but Gordo can't swim! So after 3 tries I get him off and out. 

My arms are numb and I'm tired when I see the river funneling through two rocks. No eddies i'm going in. Of course theres a frickin hole, and huge monster hole. I put my head down and wham! Worked and spit, could barely roll and catch a well needed eddy. Was a classic Gordo moment.


----------



## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

Great thread... 

I'm not so proud to report that is was a banner year for swims for me. I should have added scuba fins to my gear to aid in swimming. On the optimistic side of things, it was a great year for beatdown practice, and I feel that I am getting quite accomplished at getting the shit beat out of me. My grande finale of beatdowns will be to snorkel no fun falls next season.

I took 7 swims this year (the horror!),almost matching my career total of 8 prior to this season. I got a little of everything this year... A couple of pins to swims (clear creek of the ark and bear creek), a couple of hole rides to swims (2 in bear creek), a wall check swim (magnetic wall escalante), weird swim (tangled in climbing rope in an eddy on clear creek at low water), and the always shameful bullshit upside down raked over rocks in class II/III swim on bailey. 

Excuses range from: I suck, testicles suddenly shrunk, no fun falls really is a good rodeo hole, a rock jumped up and grabbed my boat, my boat had too much water in it, my mommy didn't tuck me in the night before, my sherpa didn't wax my paddle correctly, it was too windy, and I farted too much in my boat. 

Best excuse heard from someone else this year was... he told me there was a good surf wave... (this was the beta that caused him to paddle backwards with no momentum over a huge and obvious pourover on bailey at high water)

Some swims were pretty mellow as far as swims go. After pinning hard on clear creek of the ark and not being able to budge my boat, I pulled, stepped out, grabbed all my shit and took two steps into an eddy. 

There were also some "oh shit" moments like a long hole ride above no fun falls, almost getting impaled by my buddy running after me, and finally taking the ass to rocks with no boat line over the final falls. A buzzard forwarded pics that some guy on the bank took and there were over 40 pictures of me in the hole above no fun. The "agony of defeat" caught on film...

I'm hoping for a more modest swim season next year. I guess I'm tied with Dave for the lead... 

Sage words of wisdom from an unnamed boater who swam on bailey...
Man who kayaks with no boat has purple ass next day

By far the best swim story on the entire thread so far is Gary, pants around ankles after swimming rigo. Hilarious!


----------



## storm11 (Feb 10, 2006)

#1: Pinned in some class 3 mank in the 1st 1/4 mile of the Piedra this year and swam. (wasn't paying attention)

#2: Dislocated shoulder on 3rd gorge of Lime (Cascade) which resulted in a swim and a really shitty hike out.


----------



## yourrealdad (May 25, 2004)

I am at three with only one being really bad.

1st: was at the eddy rock above lower narrows. That thing would not let me out. Stood up in the eddy and then watched as my boat went by and lunged for it. That brought me out of the safe pool of pee and into the current, but I got out right before the entrance move. Lame

2nd: The Slate. Should have just got out but it was a new run for me and my buddies so I kept going, squeezing around trees. i then look up and see the big ol' pile of strainers 15ft away. As I am staring with my mouth open a ripple in the water grabs me and I am pinned on and underwater tree. I pull and thank god cause other wise I would have floated into that f in beaver damn and probably died. Lame

3rd: Hole above Whiteline. After having some shitty ass lines in Supercollider all week I decided to clean up. that didn't happen and as I was coming up to Whiteline I still felt good, but apparently not good enough. Was stuck in the hole above whiteline for a while I finally pulled as I was running out of breath. Came up just in time to know I was going over Whiteline. Curled up and flushed right away deep. Ended up getting pushed against a wall on the left and was sucked down. Had to climb back up the wall. Thank Buddha it wasn't undercut. Everyone I have talked to says they have never seen anyone swim over Whiteline, so I guess I am trend stter. Not Lame


----------



## vardaddy (Jun 14, 2004)

Did not have a swim this year but thanks for the green nomad Gary and starting this post.


----------



## Phillips (Feb 19, 2004)

5 swims this year. #1 and #2 on Bear creek around 300ish, very bad day. #3 on the pueblo right above Timmy's. #4 the next day on the upper box. Considered retiring. #5 on black rock backwashed in Bill's. Good fun!


----------



## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

Didn't run many harder runs this year mostly easy stuff,made some good progress on my hardshell boating but my duckying went downhill,managed a few swims.The first run of the year we go to Waterton at 600 in early March,kinda cold out so we prety much bombed down it caught a few eddies ,not much playing just happy to be getting out early.Ran all the good stuff no prob,get to literally the last foot of the rapids and flip ,basically because no brace whatsoever i self rescued fast enough that i wouldn't consider it a swim except my paddle got away from me and went underneath an ice cliff undercut.Luckily Jason was able to fish it out,so made it 99.9999 percent of the way and almost lose a paddle.
Had a super f#%'d day on Lawson /Dumont at fairly low water,done the run many times only remember swimming once at a decent level a long time ago,anyway I was flippin'left and right on easy stuff like 3 times in 200 yds. i self rescued well but lost my paddle once = swim,flipped again,get to Outer Limits where I've never had a problem ,flip!I self rescue but it takes too long and get dragged at high speed over a bunch of bony shiat,so 2 swims on Dumont, one right in front of a camera man for the raft company's.A few years back I was coming off a series of good runs,on what for me is harder stuff Bailey,Lefthand,the class 4 runs on Clear Creek at good flows,etc. somehow I end up on Brown's at 1300,I am thinkin'to myself ' this is kinda'gay" I bomb down Zoom Flume,for some reason I'm way over on the left and slam into some FU rock jutting out from the base of the wall get trashed,I think I SR'D well but it was to dumb not to call a swim,again in front of some damn photagrapher,so I AM BLAMING TWO ON photagraghers.

3 other close calls.I went to Honduras in 99 for 3 days on the Cangrejal ,tried a Perception Torrent ww sit on top,thought I liked it until I flipped the thing repeatedely in a section full of undercuts.some rapid called the Laberynth i didn't even try to self rescue i just bailed for shore swam into an undercut. I t was just like that story by Jed Selby in the new book,everything went into suspended animation/slow motion was thinking about all kinds of shit while i was pinned conforming to the shape of the rock with no apparent egress when I 'realized 'hey you better pull yuor head out of your ass and get out of here,i went down[ the only possible direction} saw some light between some boulders and busted for the surface,the guide Karl was yelling for me and i swam aways down and wrapped myself on his stern,the only time I 've ever had my person saved.thier season hadn't even started yet and they almost lost a client!The Torrent washed out of the undercut and got pinned in another undercut,Karl was responsible for the boat so after I caught my breath he had me stationed with a throw bag while he walked back up and swam the rapid staying in the main channel past a bunch of undercuts at the last second breaking for the one with the boat grabbed it and pryed it off pushing off the rock with his legs like some superhuman aquatic monkey boy on steroids,very impressive!!!

The second, after first D ing the spec fíng tacular lower Privassion Crk./ lwr. Rio ON in Belize,we get to the Macal Gorge I start screwing up n boogie water and get conservative portage stuff I WISH i'd run,it was arace to get to the takeout before dark[ to avoid sleeping in the jungle in a hefty bag] we approach Vaca Falls4+ line on the left,VI on the right picture ADRENALINE FALLS with a nasty rock sticking out half way down and instead of a pool at the bottom a violent sluice 25 yds. long with the rest of the river pouring off a 4/5 ft ledge perpendicular to the sluice at the end. The portage eddy /must make eddy is on theright 5 or ten feet from the lip ,I SWAM INTO IT!
3 rd dump trucked into the sweet spot of HOLLYWOOD ,SLAMMED AND DRAGGED ON THE BOTTOM FOR 50 YDS? freakin'scary and plenty embarrassing!
































35


----------



## TimWalker (Oct 25, 2003)

Scariest bail out for me, at least psychologically...we were doing what we think was a first D of a small creek by Pueblo, called the Saint Charles, I believe it was 1996 or 1997. The thing was just coming down from flood as Beullah had taken a hit a few days prior and it had been raining like crazy in the wet mountains. So we were five strong and getting some beta from a long time club boater from PPWWC, just before putting in, he is leading because he has researched this drainage and was taking notes to write about it. *"Nothing significant for the first mile or so"* is what I heard. 

Not a 1/2 mile down, if that, we hit an obvious boulder choked garden, not good right after a 25 year flood. Everyone is gone from the scouting eddy except my buddy Jeremy and I. The moves are tight up top then a dogleg right, no visual. I go for it thinking it looks like an eddy will be to the right of the boulder that's blocking the view. Well, should have gone with my intuition and scouted. After the dogleg, all hell broke out. 

Someone/something was getting circ'd in a narrow slot hole, about a 4 foot drop. Nowhere else to go but straight forward into the hole. I did get time, right as I was approaching the hole to see that not only was I probably going to impale someone, surf with them in the hole, tumble with some plastic, probably swim but to top it off, most the current was going right into an undercut boulder to the left that was dumptruck sized. So I take a few good strokes, get stuffed either by the hole or other kayak, I'm upside down, getting chundered, there is another boat, possibly another chunder victim, we are playing greco roman in the hole and the thought of the undercut about 10 feet downstream - oh, and I know Jeremy will probably be dropping in soon. I feel quite an impact on the bottom of my boat, not sure where I am, can't roll because shit is on top of me, I think I just got stuffed under the left side undercut. I pull, pop up in a decent eddy on the right, three people in their boats, me and Jeremy's dad in the drink. WTF!

Jeremy's dad went into the undercut and was flushed. Pretty scary. He walked out. These were some early creeking days for me. I learned a lot that day.

Just a footnote...the St Charles is quite a unique paddle. Some good rapids, the geology is sweet as it starts in granite and ends in standstone mini gorges, and you can paddle under a giant flake of granite for about 40 or 50 yards. It looks like the huge flake sluffed off and bridged the creek and the creek just tunneled through. We are not sure about the 1st D but if the rapids are unnamed, I want to name that first one Charles In Charge. Jeremy and I also ran the other forks of that drainage if anyone wants beta. It is obscure, and only a drenching monsoon season will have it running.


----------



## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

Tim,
Nice,I've always been interested in the St. Charles and stuff near Spanish Peaks farther south.If you go scouting and it doesn't pan out at least you can go talk to Jim Bishop at his ÇASTLE in Buellah,Cool! and talk about a character/ whack job!!!Good name CHARLES IN CHARGE.

There is a rapid on the Cangrejal called Subway in one of the upper 4/5 sections where a guy had a similar experience in an undercut to mine,and another drop we ran called JANE'S WAY,a 4 ft .pourover into a super sticky hole into a tight slot,a woman named Jane got worked in. My name is Jay they call that undercut Jay's Way now.


----------

