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Lost Boat/Adventure Don't Come Cheap
Hi Riverman,
See below.
in article , riverman at wrote
on 6/7/04 11:51 AM:
Chuck: I've been thinking about your adventure all afternoon, and it reminds
me of my own close call. If it wasn't for my fireman safety boater who
resuced my boat, I would have been deep in the wilderness and in deep
doo-doo myself.
Some thoughts:
1) What were you wearing for footwear? This particular discussion has come
and gone here umpteen times, and we know that we primarily wear footwear for
keeping our feet comfortable while jammed under the deck, but how did it
fare for your 1800 vertical foot scree slope scramble? You probably thought
once or twice about improvements that were possible...
I was wearing some 5-10 Nemo booties. Quite frankly, they worked great. No
blisters, they fit in my boat, and they worked great climbing out. Of
course, one would always like to have better footwear, but they really did
quite well.
2) What was the situation that you left the river? The standard protocol is
to follow the stream down, so that rescuers can find you, or so that you
might (someday) find your boat. Of course, local environment can change
that, so was there something impassible or some reason that you chose to
climb a dangerous cliff and wander lost among woods roads instead of
following the river? Were you already formally or informally familiar with
the uphill terrain?
I did follow the river down, but with 12 miles between me and civilization,
that was not gonna get me out that night. I knew the upper topography and
knew that there were farms up on top, as well as logging roads. Being
acquainted with the topography really helps, though. No doubt.
Lolo Creek is an interesting place in that it is a pocket wilderness,
surrounded by two occupied upland plateaus that are farmed. That's the way
a lot of the Clearwater Country is.
Along the creek proper is a mixed old-growth cedar forest, as well as steep
banks and cliffs. Though I did travel about 2 miles downriver, the risk of
injury was high. I could have fallen from the sharply incised riverbanks,
or drowned swimming down to the next spot. It was a good decision to hike
where I did. I got out before my buddies did.
3) I know when I almost lost my boat, a primary thought I had was that my
emergency food, water and first aid stuff was strapped into the boat. I
always rig my gear so that I can get that stuff out in case of an ugly pin,
but when the boat went downstream, I realized the small flaw in my plan. Did
you have any emergency rations (water, matches, a cell phone) somewhere on
your person so that it was still with you after bail-out? Did you think of
anything you wish you had with you after bail-out, other than your boat?
Do you have any thoughts of how that stuff could be attached, but not be an
entrapment hazard?
Well, I lost the boat, and the stuff in it. A friend gave me his small
river bag with a waist belt--- highly recommended. I think everyone should
get one-- that way, if you crash and burn, your buddy can give you his
'hike-out' kit. The fact that I was able to strap that thing to my waist
improved my climb out pretty dramatically.
I had a quart of water. It might have been good to have in the hike-out kit
some water purification tablets. But I had food and everything else that I
needed.
The error (which I knew at the put-in) was the group was too large. I
personally like paddling small steep creeks with no more than 2 other
people. There is not safety in numbers-- when there's a constantly
vanishing horizon line, you just can't keep track of a large group.
I don't fault my fellow paddlers, though. When one is running serious,
continuous Class V (as we were), you take your chances.
Best,
Chuck
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