Hunting Washington Forum
Other Activities => Other Adventures => Topic started by: Machias on October 14, 2013, 06:26:58 AM
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A huge thank you to Wade for putting this trip together and for showing me down the Lower Gauley. I had an absolute BLAST. I made it down 4 of the big Class V rapids with no problems. I will say Wade's cataraft tubes are very clean on the bottom. I got to inspect them in great detail and up close as I swam under them at Lower Mash rapid. Thanks to Justin for the rescue, thanks to, I think it was Wade yelling for me to swim hard away from an undercut rock. And thanks to the young man (sorry, I can't remember your name, who towed me across river and downstream to retrieve my cat. When I got up Saturday morning I got ready and discovered I'd left my scan disc to my camera in my computer, so I have no photos, but that probably actually saved camera as I'm sure it would have been tucked into my vest and been lost or ruined. I did Upper Mash rapid no problem then somewhere in Middle Mash rapid I either caught a underwater rock or a wave really caught my right side oar and jerked it clean out of my hand. By the time I recovered it I was lined up dead center of my right tube with Indecision Rock just sticking out of the surface. I hit the rock and the right tube slide up towards the sky, slowly at first and then dam quick. I plunged in backside first, felt my back hit a large rock, probably three feet below surface and hang there for a millisecond and then slide over the top. I remember thinking, oh that was lucky as I was surfacing. I found my upside down raft and manage to get a hand on the tube handle just in time to start my run on the Lower Mash rapid, a solid Class V rapid . As I was going through Lower Mash I saw Wade's cat right in front of me. I could clearly see his cat hit a wall and stop. About that time my upside down cat and I slammed into his cat and I went under my tubes and came up and smashed the bottom of Wade's tubes and then I went under again and came up and for good measure smacked the bottom of his other tube. Then I heard someone, I think it was Wade, yelling at me to swim hard river right to avoid a big undercut rock, which I did. Then Justin rescued me to an eddie. I was fairly wiped out at that point. Walked a ways down the shore and then got a ride down river on the back of a kayak. Thank you everyone who helped me out, I appreciate it ALOT. Pure Screaming Hell rapid (the last Class V rapid on the Lower Gauley) was my best rapid all day, had great lines down it and was very smooth, glad to have ended it on a good note. Supposedly there is some video of my flip, one of the commercial rafts was filming, I'll have to try and track it down.
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Here is the Upper Mash, check out the video, at 47 seconds you will see the rock that flipped me.
http://www.gauleyriverrapids.com/upper-mash-rapid.html (http://www.gauleyriverrapids.com/upper-mash-rapid.html)
In this video you can see I swam all the way from the top to the big hit at the bottom and then was just barely able to swim right of the huge undercut rock at the bottom.
http://www.gauleyriverrapids.com/lower-mash-rapid.html (http://www.gauleyriverrapids.com/lower-mash-rapid.html)
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rafting is an absolute blast. I'll have to watch the videos later. at least you came out fairly unscathed.
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Dang Fred........ :yike:
Glad you made it out of that one!
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That story is giving me flashbacks.....I swam a class 3-4 rapid after falling out of my IK and thought it was over. Hands down one of the scariest things I have ever done. I thought for sure I was going to meat my maker that day.
Glad you came out of it ok. :tup:
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Fred, you need to come back to us alive, you know. This wouldn't have happened on a mule! Glad you're OK. :tup:
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Thanks guys!
Yea I could never get my mule to wear a PFD!! :) :)
