We went on our first ever float trip this weekend. Within the first 5 minutes we had all managed to crash into a tree and capsize. Being dumped unceremoniously into the river so early on was a great introduction - what else could beat that, if we survived that, how could anything else be worse? It all settled and we had fun for the rest o fthe day with a number of other capsizes to our credit.
As expected all of the other campers mentioned my snore over breakfast of the second day. The only person it seemed to bother was one of the others sharing the 4 man tent I was in. Ho Hum. Guess he and I wont be camping again, at least not in the same tent!
The family we were with said at a couple of points (as our stuff was floating off downstream after a capsize) “we told you not to bring anything you werent prepared to lose to the river” … I brought my life, and I definitely wasnt prepared to nearly lose that on the river! At one narrow bend of the river on the second day, a fallen tree blocked all but about a 3 foot pathway. The current was rushing and the canoe ahead of us hit the tree, dumped everyone and almost went under. Somehow they all held on, keeping it upright. That lasted only a few seconds until we hit them full speed as we missed our line. It was messy - canoes and people tangled in the tree and stuff bobbing off down the river with some force thanks to the current.
I have to say I saw God’s hand over it all. As we aproached, one of the other canoe’s occupants moved to the right about 12 inches. The front of our canoe slammed into theirs right where his head would have been only seconds before - I had visions of it splitting like a ripe melon on impact. Gross, I know, but in that split second before impact everything seems to take on a surreal quality. One of the other canoe’s occupants was about 6 months pregnant, and although she got bashed around by canoes, it ammounted to bruises and scraped at shoulder level and above: baby was fine. Alison was in my canoe, and she claims to have no memory of events other than slamming into the other canoe and then being the other side of the tree and grabbing onto our cooler as it floated past. This acted as a floatation aid as the current carried her away downstream, until someone pulled her into shore.
I wasnt so lucky - I went under the first tree trunk, found there was a second, then got snagged into the mess of tangled vines and branches trailing off downstream. Very scary, given the current. Panic set in. I called for help but no-one else could get to there thanks to the current and depth. I prayed as I pulled on the branches in front of me, and they suddenly shifted, allowing me to move a foot or so downstream into a new tangle. A second time I pulled, prayed and shifted only to finally end up in a loop of vine that went all the way back to the trunk 5 feet upstream behind my head. I was gulping air - panic driven shallow breaths - trying to find my footing and fighting to get free. Prayer was specifically answered when for no other reason than the prayer the vine untangled from the tree trunk, it slip[ped through my hands and I slipped out to tumble off downstream.
I swam to the bank and landed on my hands and knees, offering heartfelt thanks for making it through! Not only did everyone survive, but all of our stuff was recovered downstream.