Day I met my fate on the Big Piney

Big Piney Float 5-17-14 I met up with several members of ACC (Arkansas Canoe Club) at Moore’s Outdoors at 9:00. It was a beautiful day, a bit cool. A large crowd was milling about. I quickly found a ride up to Helton’s Farm where we would put our boats in. They helped me load my 16-foot Coleman canoe on their vehicle. From there it is a few miles on pavement, then 12 miles on dirt.

At the launch area it was a busy time as everyone is anxious to get on the creek. I quickly got my canoe in the water and noticing it was quite high, I thought to myself this will be interesting. I paddled about, waiting on the group and soon everyone was floating. There were several rafts, many kayaks and three canoes. Heading downstream we encountered many rapids, several of them having surprises as you sped through them. Many had very large standing waves. The bow of my canoe would rise up, only to crash back down into a deep chasm. Encountering the next wave the bow would crash through, sending water cascading all around me including into my canoe. (I had to do a lot of bailing out on this trip.) One rapid was already knocking me all about when just ahead of me a tall wall of water, seemingly towering over my head. As I quickly headed for it I noticed a loud hydraulic just in front of the wall. Just before the wall I looked down and the water seemed to be a boiling vortex going in every direction. I saw a large hole just ahead. I gave it one more hard push with my paddle, flew over all that, and crashed through the wall of water! Of course it wasn’t over, no time to celebrate still being alive, as there were several more large waves to ride. Yes, that was quite a rapid but there were several more coming up. At Surfing Hole I managed to get my canoe up on the surfing wave, I could have stayed there all day. All the while you are on this wave, the canoe wants to be drawn to the very vocal hydraulic just in front of the boat. It is very scary. I imagined if the bow was sucked under, I would be catapulted up the creek, only to float back through the whole mess.

The last major rapid is called the Mother. It consists of the Little Mother, the Mother and just when you think you have made it through, the two Sisters lay in wait for you to navigate through or around. This is where I met my fate. I made it past the big Mother without hitting it, yy! And this is where it all goes into slow motion for me. To be fair to myself the boat was sluggish as it had a lot of water sloshing around in it, plus I was getting tired. I decided to go to the left, no I’d better go through the middle. (This is all happening in mere seconds as I just flew through the Mother.) As I approached the two Sisters, I was trying to get the bow turned, I guess I wasn't fast enough, as the left side, toward the front of the canoe hit the rock. I slid along until I was right next to the rock. The boat sideways in the creek, which is never is a good thing. The up-river side started to take on water that I knew would cause the boat to wrap around the rock. I gave it a mighty push on the downstream side, next thing I knew, I was in the water and my boat had disappeared. The water was very cold and somehow I quickly scampered up onto the rock. From there I could see my boat on the bottom.

As I sat on the rock, I pondered my situation. My keys, wallet and phone were all on the boat. I can’t just jump off the rock and swim to shore either. I noticed several people on the bank yelling and pointing to their heads. I couldn't hear them due to the roar of the water. I realized they were wondering if I was okay, I gave them the thumbs up to let them know I wasn’t hurt. A raft appeared, they stopped and talked to members of our group. The guys in the raft, I don’t know if they were part of our group or not. They were coming to get me but the current was starting to move them away so I leapt into their boat. At this point I’m still feeling okay. Getting to shore, instantly I was asked several questions, like was I cold? I told them I was fine but I soon had on a wet suit top, then I was given a wool cap and very nice heavy shirt because I was starting to feel the cold. Luckily for me the one person who could get my boat out was with us. He was still up the creek with his family in a raft, a great group of people. Some were making their way upstream to the Island, which belongs to the Mother. It was perilous for them to cross the fast-moving water to get there. Some were blowing horns and whistles, 3 blasts. So those in the raft coming toward the Mother may have thought the worst. They rode the Mother, got to shore on the island and talked to those there. Then he got himself and daughter out on the rock that held my boat. It took maybe an hour and a half to get a strap around my boat and hooked to the shore at about a 30-degree angle upstream. Heave, ho, heave, ho, they had a fantastic rope system with something like a 3 to 1 ratio set up. I saw the boat swinging upstream away from the rock, then the rope slipped off and the boat disappeared again, against the rock. I thought to myself that’s it as I shivered and kept moving around to try and stay warm. After they talked up-creek from where I was, he went back out to the rock. He got the canoe roped again, this time they pulled directly across from the rock. Heave, ho, heave, ho! I at this point looked towards the heavens and said, “Dear Lord, if you hear me now, pop out that boat. Seconds later I saw the boat floating away from the rock upside down. Over the sound of the creek I heard a cheer go up. They quickly jumped into their raft and chased down my canoe. They disappeared around the bend of the creek. They I saw him rowing his raft back, where are the others? Then I saw them paddling my canoe back upstream to me. With the others I paddled my somewhat bent boat back to Longpool which wasn’t far away. I’m truly grateful to all those who helped me. I think this affair with a happy ending will be talked about for a long time. All those there saw an amazing feat of rope-man-ship and teamwork. The incident at the end didn’t take away from a fantastic time on the creek with fantastic people, thanks again.
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