Pre-Christmas 2013 Adventures

[Lazer]

T'was the week before Christmas and the snow/ice had thawed as the temperatures climbed into the 70's. The forecast was calling for a big rain event, but no one dare mention it for fear of being a Jinx!
Boaters started planning and scheming on how to get to the river and make holiday plans alike. By Friday night, the rains set in and a full weekend of water was to be had. This is a story of fun and excitement but also of compromise, coordination, complacency and lessons learned.

We found ourselves heading toward the Ozark hills early Saturday with first target of checking out Boss Hollow. The Boss was my first first-descent in a Kayak back in '97 and has never failed to disappoint whenever I've caught it. Marc has had it on his to-do list for the past couple years and we hiked it last winter so he could check it out. He was the main reason we were on the road so early. He wanted to get an early run due to prior commitments for that afternoon. On our way up, he compromised to catch it next time. That is often a difficult thing to do for a creekboater in the Ozarks, because you never know when or if the next time will come for you.

A few other boaters met us at the Who-A-Thought-It store in Lurton, discussed it for a bit and decided to give Boss Hollow a go. The heavy rain had slowed to a light but steady rain and the water level was expected to be good. A disappointed but enthusiastic Ginger stayed back for shuttle as Mark, Jon, Ryan , Kenze(sp?) and I headed down the trail to the put-in. Once there, we found a creek that was bank-full and rollin'! The creek starts out as a long bedrock shoal before pinching up for some tight moves around rocks and between trees. Lots of water cascading in from both sides of the creek creating awesome scenery to briefly check out as we booked on down with the current. Everyone's smiles were ear-to-ear after coming of Face-Slap Falls. A fast channel leads to the surprise lip of an auto-boof onto a short by screaming slide. A couple more fun drops and time for The Boss!

Jon and Kenze almost missed the scouting eddy, but clawed there way to the bank. This was the first time on the creek for all the others and there eyes opened wide when they got the first view of The Boss. Over and around some boulders and into the entrance shoot, the channel narrows and turns 90o to the right as it feels like your shot out of a canon with the goal to head to the main flow and slide on the right side of the main double drop. Don't let your guard down because the final ledge and sticky hole await just downstream. Everyone had successful runs, although not all of the lines were the prettiest nor upright!

Shortly below, the slot at The Undercut gave us a sling shot start to the 1/3 mile long Cheesegrater slide. At this fluffy level on the creek, it was a lot more cheese and less grater as we bounced over the waves and through the holes. The final 2 miles of Class II-III on Buck Branch provided a time to reflect on the fun gorge we just came down. A brisk hike over to the main road which was cut-off by a flooded side creek and another successful run of Boss Hollow was concluded.

Some of us called it a day to rest up for more fun and excitement on Sunday while a few headed over to get some Falling Water action. Later that day, Ginger and I discussed the progression of her boating skills and the challenge I have in wanting to help and encourage her passion for the river but also evaluate and trying to watch over her on the river. I've had lots of experience with helping boaters progress and experience new runs. But the emotions of our relationship factor into the boating more than realize sometimes and I'm still learning how to work with those.

As we prepared to head down to the East Fork Little Buffalo (EFLB) put-in on Sunday morning, the temperature dropped below freezing and stayed there all day. The long hike down the hill is always enough to get warmed up and makes reaching the water that much sweeter. Eight of us launched somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00 with Marc and I the only ones who had been on the creek previously.

The creek starts off pretty small at the confluence of Barberry Creek and is mainly Class II+/III- as several more feeder creeks flow in during the first mile to give a watershed size similar to upper Falling Water Creek. The next mile+ is more Class II+/III- until Johnson's Falls (The Squeeze) suddenly appears. This drop would be a fun straightforward slide over the limestone bedrock if it wasn't for the very large sandstone boulder stuck in the middle of it causing the water to squeeze between it and the left bank. The squeeze is barely wider than a boat, turns sharply to the right, drops steeply and spreads the water thinly at the bottom while going mach 2. The squeeze has been run both intentionally and accidentally with mixed results. The vast majority of times it is portaged due to the fun vs risk factor.

Complacency is the best description I have of my mindset above the drop. Maybe I was distracted, tired, etc. But bottom line was I uncharacteristically didn't approach with as much caution as I have in the past, especially with several first time EFLB boaters. The past several years, there has been two distinctive and calm eddys above the squeeze. A small one at the very top and a slightly larger one below the entrance chute. I instructed to Ginger to catch the good eddy on the left behind the first rock and headed down the chute. Only instead of finding the eddy I was expecting, there was a much smaller and less defined eddy. Ginger came around in the main flow and passed me as she realized the same thing and had to line up to run the Squeeze or risk broaching if going for the eddy too late.

Marc and I hopped out and portaged the drop faster than I knew it could be done as the others got out behind, but not without getting proper beta due to our concentration on getting down to Ginger. She made it to the right bank just below the slide as her boat floated down to the rocks at the top of the next rapid. She was holding her left arm in obvious pain and stated she thought is was broken based on the pain level. Initial assessment showed that shoulder and elbow appeared to be in place and no obvious deformation in the arm. Marc and I used our waist webbing belts to make a stabilizing sling and then loaded her in my boat and towed her across the pool to the left bank. Jason pulled out a Sam Splint and Marc secured it to her and reattached the webbing sling.

We were at the halfway point on the creek so heading upstream of downstream would be about the same distance, however the ATV trail that parallels the river would be easier to head downstream with only one river crossing vs the 4 crossings and uphill hike to go upstream. We trudged up the hill on the left bank and eventually found the trail. The others headed downstream to the crossing above the Obliterator gorge and headed up the trail to assist us. Once across, we continued down the trail which leads to the road just above the Swinging Bridge gorge. The others had some excitement in the Obliterator Gorge and we reached the Swinging Bridge house at the same time.

The checked on us and headed downstream to the truck with plans to head back up to pick us up. Luckily, a couple from the King River area was out delivering presents to friends in the Murray area and gave us a ride down to the takeout to meet the others so we could make our way out of one of the deepest places in the Ozarks. Once back at the Cabin, Marc and I luckily managed to get the life jacket and drysuit off her without cutting as we were prepared to do so we could assess the arm more carefully. Remarkably, there was very little visible bruising nor visible sign of a break, but the pain was still very obvious.

We restabilized the arm, loaded up and headed home to get checked out at the hospital. Shortly after arriving and getting checked in, one of the nurses came in to say that Ginger was the third female upper left arm injury of the evening. The previous two were breaks, which surprisingly to us, hers turned out to not be. So after some pain meds and a better sling we made it home for some rest.

Looking back on the events, I am still miffed at how easily complacency finds its way into our mindsets. Several other stories of incidents on other creeks this weekend and past boating trips confirm that it is an issue lots of us will face at some time. The risk involved with the sport we love is part of the reason we are drawn to it. How we address that risk and respond to the events that transpire add to the excitement. The coordination and cooperation of your fellow boaters to support and respond to each other bonds us beyond the common love of the river.

So as far as lessons learned, there are several. The boating community has some of the best people that you will find anywhere. Safety begins with a mindset and it is often too easy to let it slide when things go well over and over again. Knowing the escape routes off the river is invaluable. Ginger is one strong woman both in mind and body and I am grateful and honored to share my life with her. She loves the river as much as I do and we'll continue to return to its call.

[Lucky13]

Great write up Lance! I think one valuable lesson I learned, and that Mark mentioned on our way down, and you mention, is know your escape routes when creeking.

Have a Merry Christmas ACC!!
Jason

[canoe]

Lance, I set down and wrote a list if lessons learned from ya'lls trip, but I don't need to post it, since you have basically already expressed my thoughts. dale

[magicmike]

Great trip report, you guys Rock!!!-M-

[marc b]

Great job on the trip report.

[Tim Eubanks]

Thanks Lance! Good points all roUnd. Merry festivuvusmass

[SteveGabbard]

As usual good stuff. Thanks for sharing!