Cold weather paddling stories?

[prophet]

real or not ...

[Fish]

Man, we caught this sweet little creek the other day but it was so cold we had a tough time...

The ice was so bad on the trail to the river that we slid two steps backward every time we took one step forward. Finally we turned around, walked back to the car, and made it to the put-in.

It was so cold that we had to strap crampons to our paddle blades to get out of the eddy.

Then I flipped and broke my nose on a wave. When I tried to pull my skirt to swim it shattered, but my butt was frozen solid to the seat, so I had to roll up with a boat full of ice cubes.

Then my boat broke running a waterfall. A climber on his way up speared it with his ice axe.

At the take out, we had to light a fire under the truck to melt the gasoline in the tank so we could get the engine started.

No s***, I was there...

- Fish

[ARzach]

Man, we caught this sweet little creek the other day but it was so cold we had a tough time...

The ice was so bad on the trail to the river that we slid two steps backward every time we took one step forward. Finally we turned around, walked back to the car, and made it to the put-in.

It was so cold that we had to strap crampons to our paddle blades to get out of the eddy.

Then I flipped and broke my nose on a wave. When I tried to pull my skirt to swim it shattered, but my butt was frozen solid to the seat, so I had to roll up with a boat full of ice cubes.

Then my boat broke running a waterfall. A climber on his way up speared it with his ice axe.

At the take out, we had to light a fire under the truck to melt the gasoline in the tank so we could get the engine started.

No s***, I was there...

- Fish

I do not believe that this was the other day. Everything else looks plausible....

[Cowper]

So this one time, at Richland….

We awoke to temps in the high 30’s or low 40’s, heavy rain falling, and weather forecasts of dire temperature drops a-coming. Not sure if there was enough rain for a run yet or not, so we went to work. Later that morning we got the gage reports – looked like a go. Screw work, we’re going paddling!

By now, the cold front had really hit. I went out to the parking lot, and had to climb into my ‘burb on the East side, because the western-facing driver’s side was now covered in ¼” to ½” of sheet ice – frozen rain. Yeah, temperatures were dropping all right. But that’s what drysuits are for…

As I drove North on Hwy 7, I knew it was going to be sketchy getting that diesel engine to fire after it had been parked riverside for several hours in that biting cold. Fortunately, I found a station at Dover that sold kerosene – I used a few gallons of that to top off my tank, thus giving myself a much better chance of returning home that same evening. (For those of you who don’t know about diesels, adding kerosene or gasoline to the tank is a big no-no, but also an old trucker’s trick for extreme cold weather…)

We met at the river, set shuttle, and made our way to the put-in. Man, it was cold; mid twenties by now; stiff blowing wind, with a forecast to fall into the teens after nightfall. This trip was probably one of those that led to our little “inside joke” about 50 degree days – “It’s not cold enough to paddle yet!”

The plan to wear extra protection on our hands back-fired on one group member – after flipping at crack-in-the-rock, with extra gear limiting flexibility, a roll was missed, and the violent motions required to extricate a gloved hand from inside a tight-fitting pogie to pop the spray skirt led to a dislocated shoulder. Our attempts to get the shoulder back in all failed; the group had to move to plan “B”. The injured person and one friend would hike back upstream, while the remaining two of us would continue down the creek to our parked car. We discussed the route out from CITR, and I tried to stress the fact that there was a river-left road for more than ½ of the way back – STAY ON THE LEFT! FIND THAT ROAD! If you’re not back when we get there, we will search for you on RIVER LEFT!

The downriver crew of two (yes, ½ the recommended number for a GOOD day) managed to make it to Richland Campground without further incident. And no, this time I don’t remember stopping to surf; we were truly concerned for our friends, injured and hiking out over unfamiliar terrain in the snow. We drove back to the ‘burb at the put-in; the other two should have been here before us. CRAP! Nobody to be seen anywhere. Low twenties or high teens by now; getting dark, this is BAD, BAD, BAD. At least we had a plan – they should be somewhere along the river-left road. The ‘burb was 2-by, so we gathered flashlights, what warm and dry clothes we could find, and took the 4-by-4 down the River left road to the end. I think we may have even hiked some distance into the woods; many years have passed and some of the details are fuzzy now. Still no dice; no footprints in the snow, no evidence we were looking in the right places. For whatever reason, probably because it was getting too dark to continue searching in the woods, we returned to the ‘burb, trying to figure our next move. MIRACLE! Our friends were now there, huddled together under sleeping bags, in the back. For them, the good news was that one door would not lock in the cold; the bad news was that with frozen hands they were unable to find my spare key even though they knew exactly where it was. So no engine heat. Which was a really bad deal for them, because they were wet from at least two river-crossings on their march back to the put-in. (This is why we didn’t pass them as we drove down-river on the left side – we later realized they must have been working upriver on river right when we passed…)

The drive to the ER in Russellville was slow and painful; every bump jostled the dislocated shoulder. At the ER, we stopped outside, and because he wanted us to, we tried to remove our friend’s dry top; we knew what was coming next and he wanted to save the top for paddling another day. But the pain was too great, we couldn’t get it off him without hurting him too much. So into the ER we marched.

Once inside, the two who had hiked out removed their “dry pants” – chunks of ice the size of your fist fell out where water had collected around their ankles. The top was cut off (more ice fell out), drugs were applied, and the ER physician tried to get the shoulder back in. No dice. We waited longer while they woke up a specialist somewhere in town; he joined the party and was able to perform the necessary magic.

It’s around midnight by now; not much going on in a frozen-over Russellville, so the county sheriff dropped by the ER to see what’s up. After a short interview with us, what were we doing, where had we been doing it, etc, he indicated he was seriously considering arresting us all, or at least those not currently under the care of a physician, and driving us down to another hospital somewhere for a mental evaluation. Maybe it wouldn’t stand up in court, but he sounded serious…

No s***, I was there…

[shelbyjohnson]

REAL - I can't remember the year but it was several back. A group of us had made our way to the Saint Francis in Missouri where it had been running nicely since a good storm had passed through on late Thursday and into Friday. I guess it was around February but that's only a guess. We drove up on Friday night after work.

We paddled in fantastic fashion and thoroughly enjoyed our selves on the Saturday paddle. The highs were mid 30's. We were camping that night and lo and behold the skies cleared out that night, the mercury headed down and a glorious full moon rose in the east.

It was decided a full moon and good level on the Saint could not be missed and so we doned semi-dried gear and went to the putin.

Am thinking it was a crew made up of Jason Mellor, Scott Hanshaw, Lance Jones, Greg Churan, Druise Ellis and maybe another or two whom I've forgotten. Our mooner on the Saint was very fun, and we even played some. At the takeout I don't remember how but we had a shuttle bunny with a warm truck.

I remember the cold well because it was the one time I had a hard time getting my skirt off. It was crusted in about a half inch of ice. My lifejacket was frozen to my dry top. I don't know for sure but I think it was around mid to upper 20's that night. Some of the others may remember better.

[RandyJ]

First descent of Richland, the temps were in the 20's.

I ran the Frog once in sleet/freezing rain. Hands were too cold to seal up the drysuit after taking a leak. Got cured that day of paddling in sub-freezing temps.

I think Okieboater has one of the ultimate cold-weather experiences. Maybe he'll give us a refresher.

[Cowper]

Please people! Follow the protocol:

All stories should begin with

This one time, at ____

and end with

No s***, I was there!

Eric has a good one, too; but yes, Okieboater's is probably the nearest near miss we're going to hear!

[Roger]

REAL - I can't remember the year but it was several back. A group of us had made our way to the Saint Francis in Missouri where it had been running nicely since a good storm had passed through on late Thursday and into Friday. I guess it was around February but that's only a guess. We drove up on Friday night after work.

We paddled in fantastic fashion and thoroughly enjoyed our selves on the Saturday paddle. The highs were mid 30's. We were camping that night and lo and behold the skies cleared out that night, the mercury headed down and a glorious full moon rose in the east.

It was decided a full moon and good level on the Saint could not be missed and so we doned semi-dried gear and went to the putin.

Am thinking it was a crew made up of Jason Mellor, Scott Hanshaw, Lance Jones, Greg Churan, Druise Ellis and maybe another or two whom I've forgotten. Our mooner on the Saint was very fun, and we even played some. At the takeout I don't remember how but we had a shuttle bunny with a warm truck.

I remember the cold well because it was the one time I had a hard time getting my skirt off. It was crusted in about a half inch of ice. My lifejacket was frozen to my dry top. I don't know for sure but I think it was around mid to upper 20's that night. Some of the others may remember better.

No s**t, I think was there for that!!!! Except I was in the hotel sleeping in a nice warm bed!!!! I just remember the stories!

How's that, Cowper!

[canoe]

3 stories. 1. paddled Upper Richland on XMas day with Franklin R Bursk and John Barton, airspace 0, while Tom Young and others paddled Lower. Creek came up, while on the river, by time we got to campground, the creek was over camground bridge. 1st time I heard the term, "on a day like this, paddle for the green water, not the white"(JB).(I was in an Blue Hole OCA). Tom Young swam a gravel bar on Lower, and cussed me out for letting him paddle when it was so cold. 2nd story. West Virginia, snow blowing horizitally, winds 40mph, this was before Kortex, so me, Motor Sims, and again, I think, Franklin, run a portion of the Buchannan, a part that 's not real hard, but had a diffucult class 4. We made it, and found a roadside bar, with a real cute bartender/waitress that made the day worthwhile. 3rd story, paddled Mulberry, with a Med School buddy, so cold that when he swam, had to use lighter to unfreeze his lifejacket zipper, as well as his wetsuit Zipper. You had to be there to understand the humor. Dale

[A Savage spanke]

This one time on Richland, it was my first time on that creek, and all the standing water was frozen. I forgot all my poly pro but managed to find a loose fitting wetsuit to wear under my semi dry top. Lucas was not so fortunate, he did the entire run, at below freezing temperatures with nothing on under his lifejacket. When we got to crack he was blue and chattering, he made it and we still laugh about it. No shi*t I was there

[dthrasher]

Randy mentioned the first decent of Richland. It was in February of 1978 and the high temperature in Ft. Smith was 18 degrees. I'm sure that the temperature at Richland was lower than that. It was so cold that Mike Beard decided to run shuttle and missed the most storied first descent in Arkansas history. No one had dry suits back then, and I remember that water would freeze on your wet suit and in the bottom of your boat. Plus, water would freeze on your paddle and make it extremely hard to grip the paddle. Terry Keefe took a swim at Knucklebuster and by the time we got to him his beard was frozen solid (it was white rather than the usual red color). Stewart Noland and I were scouting Richland Falls looking for a way to carry our boats around it because we knew we would get wetter and colder if we ran it, and here comes Keefe who runs the falls blind. We knew we had to run it since Keefe did and man that was tough because it was COLD. The amazing thing is that I remember all the ice (in the boat, on the paddle, on the wet suit, on your hair, etc) but I do not remember being cold. I guess it was the excitement of running Richland for the first time. No S**t, I was there.

[Fish]

Besides my most recent trip, the coldest I ever paddled has to be Boxley to Ponca on the Buffalo. A buddy and I drove in two four wheel drives from Fayetteville to Ponca in the rain and fast falling temperatures. We were going for Osage Cr. which had gotten more than 2 inches of rain. Halfway up the mountain to Compton, the rain had all frozen on impact. Two inches of ice on the road, trees, electric lines, everything.

We locked 'em in 4WD and dodged downed trees on the highway, sliding around on the ice. Got to the dirt road and started down the hill only to run into a big tree blocking the road. Walked down to Osage from there and crossed maybe two dozen big trees down in about 100 yards. The creek was going strong, but the cold, likelihood of dozens of new strainers in a class 4 creek, and our complete inability to shuttle convinced us to not carry the boats down.

Back in Ponca, the rain had stopped, but temps were cratering and the wind was howling about 20 to 30 mph. We decided we couldn't go back empty handed. Oh, the folly of youth... We shuttled, suited up in everything we had (which wasn't near as much as I have now, and hit the water. At launch, temp was 25 and dropping and the wind was brutal. Spray was blowing back in our faces from the rapids and freezing to the paddle, helmets, PFD, skirt, and eventually my glasses. Taking my hands out of the pogies to try to wipe the ice off my glasses so I could see didn't seem like a good option either. We didn't slow down at all, just paddled like crazy to get to the Trooper at the takeout. I could only see a vague blurry outline of the riverbanks by the end of the run.

The drive home was on solid ice all the way back to Fayetteville. An hour drive took us a harrowing 3 hrs, in which time I almost thawed out again completely. Rarely have I slept so good.

No s***, I was there...

- Fish

[druse]

One of my most memorable.

Richland Creek 28 degrees at the campground bridge, started snowing as we were changing clothes getting ready for our trip to the put in. Twenty minutes later the ground was covered and it was still snowing. It was nice to make the first tracks on the snow covered road toward the put in (went the back way, which is the only way now). Had a great float down the creek. There were four, maybe five of us and the scenery distracted us from how cold it really was. A snow covered Richland float was definitely awsome beauty. I remember the string on my nose plug frozen sticking straight out away from my helmet. When we took off the creek the temperature was 18 degrees. Thank goodness for great gear!

[Roger]

Okay, when I did paddle, no sheet! Was going to school at UCA in '93, and I was going to take a couple of newbies on Big P.

I went up to LP the night before and camped with warm temps (Later March). Got up the next a.m. and about 45 minutes after, temps started falling like lead balloons. The newbies arrived.

My cold weather gear then was a thin-layer of of poly, a wet-suit, and splash jacket and pants. One newbie rented a wet-suit from Kerry and I loaned mine to the other. I had on the poly and splash gear.

Off to Heltons, where immediately on launch, the newbies flipped on the small tree stump that was right off river left bank. One says he's done and after some talk, he gets back in and off we go. Levels are around 4' and temps are now about 25 F. By the time we hit the Mother, they've had two more swims. I offer to run their boat around the Mother but they insist and take another swim. Get boat out and load up to head on down. Starts sleeting. Before LP, it changes to snow. After running shuttle and getting back off the mountain, we got about 4" of snow on the ground. Long day, four swims, below freezing temps and the whiskey did no good!!!

Never got those guys to boat again.
I

Think it's gonna be hard to be the Richlland story though!

[Heath]

once apon a time, at this place called the whood da thunk it store, there was a group of crazys as it would turn out.

probly the coldest I remember being was my first ozark run. We had met up with a large group of around 12 I think, for a run down boss hollow. temps were in the 50s on the way up, and still there when we put on. by the time we got of the creek it was snowing and the temp had fallen to around 25 or so. I remember my hands were so cold that I wasnt able to tie the ropes or straps, when we were loading boats, all I could do was hold the boats in place with my fists.
we camped that night at richland temps fell down in the teens, and it turned of sunny the next morn. had a great ice run on richland the next day. anywhere the trees were getting mist from the rapids , they were froze that along with the bright sun made the hole run glissin. was a great way to see the run for my first time.