The following is from my Adventure Journal
November 5, 2010 at 11:04pm
I almost drowned in the Colorado River this afternoon. Crazy huh? I did my first solo kayak run down an 8 mile stretch of class III/IV whitewater on the upper Colorado. It was a rush. The river was rolling. There is something mesmorizing, almost hypnotic about the way the waves seem to move upstream. The calmness of the waves in the way they seem to roll so gently and the violence with which which the river lashes out, grabbing and tearing, doing its best to suck anything and everything under into its icy depths. The water itself, icy cold. Swelling from its banks, the channel was filled with runnoff from melting snow high in the mountains... Brown and murky... Cutting into the landscape with a force that I have new found respect for.
It happened like this. On the last turn before my extraction point the churning water passed under the old Rifle Bridge, concrete dikes were put in place to control flooding and channel the river under the bridge creating a violent rushing chute. The raging water swirls between the dikes creating a very strong undertow on both sides of the channel. I came around the curve paddling hard, battling, the raging river sucking me toward the dikes. Looking ahead... I see Class IV whitecapps roaring at the center of the chute.
Paddling furiously, muscles burning, icy water splashing all around me, I fight the mighty Colorado. Then I was in, totally committed. Waves slammed me from the front and the current desperately struggled to pull me broadside. Then it had me, the undertow whipped my kayak sideways and rolled me under. The icy cold water instantly took my breath away. Struggling to free myself, I looked up through brown murky water at the sunlight filtrering down. Pushing hard off the bottom, breaking free somehow I surfaced, only to be rolled back under. Reaching up I wrapped one arm around the kayaks hull and somehow managed to pull myself to the suface. Struggling to breathe, the icy water pulled at my entire body. Gasping for breath I reached out with my other hand and grabbed my paddle. Knowing that if I didn't get myself out of the ice cold water my body would begin to shutdown. With my remaining strength I somehow managed to roll the kayak over and pull my body's core on top enough to take a couple deep breaths, the water burned in my lungs as I struggled to stay atop of the submerged kayak hull. Looking ahead, my legs cramping from the frigid water, both river banks are seemingly unatainable. Sliding off the kayak again into the cold water I struggled to stay afloat. Finally I managed to right the kayak and dragged my body on top with the last of my strength. Holding on with one arm, and paddling as hard as painfully possible with the other I struggled to maintain balance so as not to roll the waterfilled kayak. I finally was able to near the bank. Reaching up with my free arm I grabbed the edge of a rock. Struggling to hang on, completely exhausted...
The freezing water was too deep to reach the bottom. I finally managed to pull myself and the water-filled kayak halfway out of the icy water. Clutching the rockface I pulled myself up inch by inch the rest of the way out of the water. Gripping the front carry handle of the kayak collapse, utterly drained and on the verge of loosing consiousness. I lay there on a rock outcropping, gasping for breath. My muscles ached from the cramping caused by the cold water. Forcing myself to get up I pulled my kayak out and onto the bank. Dumping the water I opened the hatch. Reaching in I retrieved a small Pellican Case that contains a survival kit along with my cell phone... -Jeff DeMent