Hate It When That Happens

To celebrate Machelle's birthday this year, we went kayaking on the Salt River. We missed Jen and I'm sure she missed seeing me doing a not-so-awesome trick.

You see, in planning this event, Nylene wrote in her e-mail: "yes there are rapids and yes you will survive and not die". I'm pretty sure this was because I've repeatedly expressed to her my slightly sarcastic fear of kayaking down the river. I wasn't really afraid of tipping, but what if I tipped and bashed my head on a rock? Or scraped my body up? It wasn't the water that scared me, but the rocks.
Off we went. Chris drove us to the river, loaded us up and took lots of awesome pictures for me. I wanted one of us, but he just kept taking pictures. He even stopped at some point down the river to snap some pictures of us. He took pictures like I would have if I wasn't the one in the kayak. Anyway, when we got on the river, it was probably only about 6:30am. It was beautiful. I told myself I should wake up that early more often. It was cool, the water was serene and there were birds everywhere. Plus, we were just floating peacefully on the water. Staying upright wasn't as difficult as I had envisioned. We went on our way, having a fantastic time. It was the most relaxing and enjoyable thing I've done in quite some time. It was lovely.

If only my story ended there, I might not be so sore.

You see, the water was really low. Low water means the rocks are easier to come in contact with. We went down the first two sets of rapids and Nylene kept warning us about the third one, the 'big one'. She said we'd be okay if we kept our kayaks pointing forward since they don't tip unless they turn sideways. She also warned us about the big rock in the middle and told us to stay to the right. I was determined to stay to the right, which I did. And I did it well. A little too well actually. Because shortly into the 'big one', I realized I was about to run into a tree hanging over from the bank. I pushed myself away just in time, but about ten feet later, there was another, lower tree. It would've smacked me even if I ducked, so I put my hands up to grab it. As I did, my kayak turned sideways and... well... at that point, there's not much you can do. The water was moving so swiftly so over went my kayak and out I went. I tried to grab the oar, but felt my wedding ring start slipping off and decided that'd be a little more expensive to replace than the oar. So away went my shoes, away went the oar and away went the kayak.

I had a hard time standing because the water was moving so fast that it was always on the verge of sweeping my feet out from underneath me. A little ways down, my kayak got stuck on a rock. 100% of the bottom was against the water flow, so it was extremely difficult to pull it off the rock . I don't think people realize how strong and heavy water it is. Pushing something with that much surface area against fast flowing water was a lot of work, especially when I could barely stand without being knocked over. It's a good thing my adrenaline was going and that prayers can be answered quickly. Once I freed the kayak, it rushed past me and I just kind of floated/slid to the end of the rapid. It reminded me of playing at Slide Rock, except my feet and knees got incredibly banged up. Between trying to stand in the rushing water and move the kayak and being smashed into rocks when I was trying to float down, I got lots of bruises.

I finallymade it to where Nylene and Machelle had pulled off. Fortunately, they got both my kayak and my oar. My flip flops were gone, but we found one later on. I was very grateful I didn't lose anything else. It was a little scary, but I didn't really come close to dying, so it wasn't that scary. I don't think people realize how rapidly the water in that spot was moving. The water was moving just fast enough and was just deep enough that it took me out a few of the times I tried to stand up. There's a chance I'm being a wee bit over dramatic, but I've gotta make sure everyone realizes this was no laughing matter.

Nylene says it was funny to turn around and see my hanging on the tree seconds before my kayak tipped and I fell into the water. The visual makes me laugh too.

Machelle says she laughed when the fishermen told her she needed to go help me. I laughed and said she should've told them she wasn't a salmon.

And then, other than being a little cold and wet, the morning returned to a beautiful peaceful row down the river. Chris asked if I really tipped. I told him I just wanted to go for a swim. I should've told him I just wanted my legs to look like bananas. Seriously, I keep finding new bruises. The worst is my right foot. I bruised my heel and just found a big sore bruise under my ankle bone. Poor, poor Anna.

The next half of the river was much calmer. Dirtier, but calmer. A bald eagle flew across the river in front of us. We saw several other birds too. I kept thinking I wish I had my camera (but was really glad I didn't). I was pleasantly surprised when I found this picture Chris had taken for me. These guys were all over.

All in all, it was awesome. I love being that close to nature. Next time I'd just leave my ring at home, wear shoes that won't come off and avoid rocks and trees. All this time I was afraid of the rocks making me tip and I should've been afraid of the trees. Silly me.