The day on the water had been great. The weather varied from cool and rainy to sunny and warm, typical for Colorado in August and better than spending 8 hours in oppressive sun. The group started the morning with 4 rafts and spent the morning on some easier sections trying to practice our skills, playing around, and working up the guts to get into the Class IV and V rapids. August is an interesting time to raft as the flow is down from spring; a situation that has the unique ability to make things generally easier but more difficult in rocky areas where you need water to get you over and through boulders.
We stopped for lunch and then had the choice of going to run some of the same level rapids or continuing for the hard stuff. 2 boats in the group stopped for the day, but two boats decided to move on to the hard sections. I am not sure if it was the beauty of the 1000-foot canyon walls of the Royal Gorge, the ease of the sections we had been on, ego, or stupidity, but as you might guess, some of our group had an over-inflated sense of their skill and thus decided to continue on to the harder sections. For part of the group, continuing was not without risk, but the people truly had the skills and stamina to handle what lay ahead. As you might guess, that was the other boat and I was stuck in the boat with the over worked and over confident group of 'City Slickers'.
As we moved on through the first few sets of rapids things were exciting, we lost a paddler here and there, but all was fine. It was then that we arrived at the most difficult rapid of the day. We pulled to the side of the river where our guide proceeded to reorganize us in the boat, talk strategy, and get us ready for the drop. I am an experienced adventurer, have seen a lot, and am comfortable saying that this rapid looked serious…big drops, tight canyon walls, strong eddy, and big rocks. I should have known there might be trouble when I saw the backboard bolted to the side of the canyon for emergency rescue. A quick rally of the team and off we were to conquer the rapid. First drop…no problem….second drop….hit it backwards but made it through….third drop…stuck on the edge of the boulder. Then it all began.
The rush of the water turned the boat around and locked us in a very strong eddy. We were dislodged from the rock but started to spin in circles and could not break free from the rapid. Then the water started to fill the boat at the front edge where I was sitting. One of the inexperienced mates was bumped and then proceeded to push me out of the boat. It was truly scary as I was sucked out and under the boat and then shot through a very tough section of water. I surfaced after what seemed like a full minute some 30 yards down river. By the time I looked up two, more had been ejected. Leaving two in the boat with the guide who was working to free the boat. The boat continued to spin and at every rotation, another person was sucked out. Much to our surprise the guide was sucked out leaving only Aaron… the last man standing was the one least qualified to be in the situation.
All the rest of us were shaken but safe so the look of terror on Aaron’s face was the source of great laughter. I know that he found no humor in the situation. Surviving an impressive additional two rotations of the boat in the eddy, Aaron finally was sucked out. He spent a good 30 seconds under the boat and under water before getting shot out in a panic to the rivers edges some 25 yards down. Of course he surfaced on the opposite side of the river. Shaking, breathing hard, and unable to speak… we tried to calm him from our bank.
Recognizing the level of fear in Aaron, we eventually stopped laughing and talked him down. When he finally caught his breath he look at me and said in a very serious tone…” That scared the s#*t out of me.” I said I understood and thought to myself that it was not an unfair sentiment given all that happened. It was only when he said with a quiet and shaky voice “I am serious.” that laughter (so hard it hurt) erupted. We took a break for him to ditch his shorts and rinse in the water before continuing. It was a trip to remember and he has forever given a new meaning to the saying.
Douglas Elenowitz - Denver, Colorado
