Letter 7 10 17

This week will live in infamy.

Saturday morning we got up and headed for Hoback Junction to do a preliminary float...  The river was running high but we are experienced oarsmen, right?  Right.

I had Derek Brady in my boat and the rest of the family.  I was teaching Derek to oar and he decided to head for a rapid in the river (later we determined it was 3 Oar Deal).  3 Oar Deal is called an unrunable river hydraulic by professional guides.  I didn't recognize the danger from above the hole so I hold myself responsible.

We got in the hole and the rapid was filling the back of the boat while the hydraulic was pushing us back into the rapid.  Sydney went out twice and on the second time I pushed her down the river (it was luck).  Then, luckily the river released us and we got out of the hole.  What a way to introduce Samantha and Sariah to the river, right?

We lost an oar that was later recovered by Lawrence.  We recomposed ourselves and I decided to oar the rest of the way.  In fact, the rest of the way was great but everyone was shaken.

We got to the take out spot and everything was in commotion.  We were directed to land our raft in the commercial load and unload area.  The search and rescue were in the private party area and were getting ready to launch.

No sooner did we get out of the boat than the group behind us landed and four guys ran up the ramp carrying a guy that had been floating face-down in the river since 3 oar deal...  His face was swollen and purple and he was obviously gone.  We were all within a few feet of this event and you can imagine what Mom and the the girls reaction was...

It was a mess.  Emergency personnel were all over the place and we got delayed a couple of hours.  Our little training trip turned out to be a huge life lesson for all of us.  First, I'm thankful we got out of 3 oar deal intact.  That hole is unrunable and pretty benign when you approach it.  It taught me to avoid all eddies on the river.  There is no point in taking a chance when one doesn't need to be taken.

This lesson can be applied to all sorts of things in life.  It has spiritual implications to everyone involved.

We did it again and the second run of the day was awesome.  The girls stayed behind and played clue and had fun and we all felt better about the day after that.

We love you and are so proud of the job you are doing.

Dad