I was finishing a lovely paddle and almost back to my put-in when the sun came out from behind the clouds and blinded me. My sun hat was right in front of me and I was about to go under a bridge so I decided to wait until I was in the shade to set my paddle down and put my hat on. So as soon as I hit the shade I looked down and WHAM! I hit something hard and came to a stop on top of TWO trees.
So I quietly muttered “well, how the **** did you miss that Tom?”, then quickly figured out that backing up was a very bad idea so I did the scooch scooch scooch approach and continued on my way.
Water levels had returned to normal and I think I just assumed that the bridges were clear (like normal) and I totally forgot about the new blockages from recent high water. I think the Coast Guard calls it Operator Inattention.
That was last week and apparently I didn’t learn much since yesterday I got hung up on trees twice and ended up going through a long section of thick downfall backwards (and very slowly and carefully) for reasons we won’t discuss.
I’ve done similar things while canoeing. Last fall I was returning downstream on a small creek and suddenly stopped absolutely dead in the water. WTH? Turns out there was a blow down stem just under the water that I had cleared going upstream but was at just the right spot to catch a branch knob on the way back down.
10 or more years ago I was running the upper meadow (class IV in wv)and was having a rough day, having taken multiple swims. The clincher was when I paddled up to the bank at the takeout. Below the murky water was a new, totally submerged, huge tree. That resulted in one more swim right at the bank. Sometimes the river gods are against you and sometimes they are with you. The river gods are fickle! Just don’t fall asleep while paddling but thats another tale…
I’ve been on top of many trees that were barely submerged but it’s the tree stumps that are mysterious. I’ve hit them even when following other Kayaks. I suspect they’re moving when they see my yellow Kayak coming. I probably shouldn’t mention this but I haven’t been swimming yet.
Big western rivers flood in the spring due to snowmelt. The trees on the outside of bends sometimes fall into the water. They are mostly cottonwoods with large branches. They are to be avoided. In faster water they act like sieves. The water can pass through them but you can’t. My brother took a swim on the Sacramento River in a loaded canoe on one. Faster rivers are even worse.
Yes, trees are sneaky. I think I’ve had two hats stolen by trees where they silently reach in the canoe behind me and grab a hat…but I have no way of knowing for sure.
I think the big luck in this situation was that I ended up perched on top of two trees in a spot where they were only about 3-4 feet apart. I could just as easily have hit where they are more than half a boat length apart where I think it might be unmanageable if the bow hit the second tree before the stern came down from the first one.
Yes, coming to a dead stop unexpectedly sticks in my memory too. I think everything has to be just right (like the shape of the obstacle). I remember it happening once on a stump and once on a rock. The incident with the rock helped me learn to do gelcoat repairs.
paddling tandem on a narrow creek, top of the class III rapid had a downed tree hanging nearly all the way across the water. My wife made it past but I did not, ended up hung over the tree while she did a quick solo run of the rapid…
at the takeout that day, pulled out the center floatation bag, underneath it was a snake which promptly regurgitated the lizard it had just eaten. Presumably the snake had dropped in from some other tree along the way.
For some reason we never ran that creek again…
I spent a considerable time growing up in central Florida. The alligators weren’t a bother but I hated going under cypress limbs in the canals, worried that a cotton mouth would drop into the boat. That never happened but I was once standing on the bow of a 15’ runabout, with a high windshield and four other boys in the boat, preparing to tie to a burned out tree at an island in Lake Harris when I saw this little wide open white mouth less than a foot from my eye. By the time I finished saying “SNAKE!” I was sitting on the outboard motor. One of the other boys turned and asked, “How did you get there?” I couldn’t answer because I don’t remember making the trip. Oh, the snake might have been 10" long or so. I didn’t go back to check.
I stepped over a log in our local swamp and met the same sight back in my bloodthirsty days. That snake got a mouthful of #6 shot. Now, I’d just shoo it or me away.
