Schooled By the River Again: Witness to a River Miracle

A superb day for paddling: a high of around 80, mostly cloudy, and a low but favorable wind for Saturday's training run. Three to four inches of rain in the area 1-2 days prior made it a bit hairy, though. After negotiating a tricky portage around Staples Dam (picture), we felt pretty confident and were cruising fast down the swollen river. Kicking back at mile 22 of the 23 mile trip, however, was a bit overconfident.

We were done in by a strainer that should have been easily avoided. Swamped, we kept our heads, and things happened deliberately. The water was swift, and carried us and the boat at a good clip. I recovered the only missing paddle as we were swept 1/4 mile down stream, bobbing in our life vests and keeping feet crossed in front of us. I eventually made it to the canoe and held on with the others, but even when there was a small bit of ground underfoot, the water was too deep and swift for the four of us to stop ourselves, let alone the boat. So, we figured we'd ride it out to the next sandbar. But with the river in this condition, at this level, there were none. We eventually came to a log jam in a tight bend in the river next to a steep bluff about 15 tall. No way for me not to get scraped off the side of the canoe, I let go and floated around it, expecting to meet the canoe on the other side of the logs. Of course the boat didn't make it to the other side of the logs - it got pinned. #Flashbacks of the week before. I scrambled to the bluff where I hung on to tree roots about 30 feet downriver from the boat and my 3 teammates. There was no way to make it back to them in that current. They could see me, but not hear me, due to the rushing water around them. I could hear them shouting to each other just fine. They tried to get the boat up onto the logs and emptied, being careful not to get pinned between the current and the logs/canoe. It took them what seemed like forever to manipulate the craft up to relative safety, while I hung on to two paddles in one hand and a tree root in the other. Relieved that the boat was no longer swamped, they started brainstorming on the second half of the problem: how to get it over and off the jam safely and without getting it pinned again.

That's when I witnessed a river miracle. As they were precariously standing on the jam holding the canoe and discussing, a huge chunk of the top part of the soft bluff 10 feet away from them eroded due to the current, fell into the river, and caused a small tsunami. The relatively calm discussion quickly turned into yells of "Jump in!". The three got into the boat just as the wave lifted the craft up and over the logs, clearing them of the small jam. As the boat passed I sprang from bluff and grabbed the stern and rode another 1/4 mile until we finally found some footing, and beached the craft for a quick reality check. It actually happened.

Pics: 1. A mean river critter outside Black's BBQ (the beef rib is now a tradition). 2. Below Staples Dam, NOT looking its usual self. 3. Safe and dry before we swamped. Sadly, the mounted camera ran out of juice before the miracle. Typical.