Canoeing = Death

Last year I went canoeing with my mom, niece Kayla & nephew Trevor. We went for the Healthy Community Group & the Environmentalists. So, yea, I know I'm not the picture of health, but I do love my environment! We had a decent time. It rained the entire day & the water was so low we just skimmed the rocks & constantly had to get out to push our canoe's off, but it was neat. Kayla was my riding partner. We ended up beating mom & Trevor to the finish point, so we thought we were tuff stuff.

Fast forward to yesterday. The day of my almost death. Maybe I'm exaggerating a tiny bit, but it was still scary. It was a nice hot day. The water was up because of all the rain we've had. I was stoked. We may actually be able to canoe & float down the water instead of hopping out every 3 minutes to scoot our boat off the rocks. Mom couldn't go this year. So Duane, my step-dad, went. He & Kayla rode together & Trevor & I rode together.

The guides told us of a few places that may be hairy. Some trees were down across the river & we may have to get out & walk our canoes for a few steps, is what they said. We launched our canoe & off we went. It started off nice. We flowed down the water. We were ahead of Kayla & Duane. And then they passed us & that would be the last time we would see them for 3 1/2 hours.

I sat in the back of the canoe, naturally. I mean, I am bigger (a lot bigger) than Trevor. I paddled & Trevor thought if he shifted his weight in the opposite direction we were going, it would even out. Not sure that worked out for the best. And then we came to our first obstacle. A giant log that was down. We had to bend our body's backwards to make it under the log. Too bad we weren't in the Matrix, we wouldn't have had any trouble. But, we weren't in a movie. We tipped & dumped our canoe. We laugh & go off to the side. Some canoers helped us get the water out of the boat & Trevor & I got back in.

Off we went. We started traveling pretty good. We came upon a few spots, but were able to get out. The next spot we came to had a women guide who was standing on a piece of dry land in the middle. She said, "This is one of the parts we were talking about. Some people get off here & walk the canoe around. Others have been making it around just fine. We haven't had anyone tip their canoe." I look at Trevor & say, "Let's just go around it in the canoe. We'll be fine." WRONG. We started going backwards & tipped. The canoe with one paddle took off. The current pulled us down the stream as well. I was well in front of Trevor. I kept screaming back to him, "Are you okay?" Luckily, I could see him still. Once the water calmed down, I swam & was able to get the canoe. Trev caught up with me.

Let me say this, I was barefoot! Freaking barefoot! If I ever choose to do this again, I will be investing in some nice water shoes. I can't even begin to explain how my feet feel. The soreness is awful. I have little cuts up & down my legs because of the rocks on the bottom of the river. Trevor had on sandals that had straps around his ankles...thank God! He kept telling me to just stand up. I couldn't. I honestly couldn't. The rocks were horrible. And I would get up, step down a foot & it the water level would change, therefore causing me to fall. At this point, I was over canoeing. My legs were cut up & my feet felt like I had bruises all over them. I had worn flip flops that morning, but every time I tried to put them on, they would just fall off my feet.

Our canoe got lodged on the side of the river, upside down. It wouldn't budge. Trevor & I stood in the river hoping that we weren't the last ones. A little while later, a man in a kayak came. He got out & tried to help us. It didn't work. He kept stopping & saying, "Let me catch my breath." That canoe wasn't budging because of the current. He informed us that were a few people behind him. And by this time, the lady who saw us flip had called in help. We got the canoe flipped back over & drained & once again...we got in.

Only a few minutes later, the next obstacle was in front of us. There were 3 guides who were waiting. We had to get out of the canoe & walk a few steps in the water while they pulled the canoe over a log that was at the water line. We got back in the canoe for a few feet, only to have to get out again. A large log was blocking the path. We had two options. We could either lay down flat in the canoe & go under the log, or we could get out & float on our backs underneath it while the guide pushed out boat thru. I opted for floating on my back. I mean, crap, I had already been in the water for over 75 % of my time on the river, what was a little more? We made it thru & back on the canoe.

At this point, we knew Kayla & Duane had been done for a while. We wondered if they were wondering about us. We continued on our journey only to find ourselves heading for a tree branch. I reached out my arm & tried to stop us from hitting it. We went sideways & were titled up on our side. Trev & I looked at each other & said, "Please God, no." The devil must have intercepted that message because after our look, we tipped. The current took us both down but the boat stayed. And sank. It was flipped over & all you could see was barely the top of it. It layed under this tree that put us down.

Once again, I was way in front of Trevor. There was no standing up; A) because the current was pulling me & (2) i was barefoot! There was yet again, another tree down. I headed towards it & it pushed me under. It was one of those ordeals where you are physically restrained under the water. I panicked...big time! And yes, we had on life jackets. I thought, "This is it! Trevor is going to see my die." I know, I know...dramatic. I came up from under the trees & screamed. Trevor yelled to me, "Are you okay, Shannon?" I said, "Yes! But I'm done. I'm over this." I was so tired.

We found some soft sand to stand on. We started talking about what we were going to do. We saw no one in the distance, yet we were sure there were a few people behind us still. We waited & waited. Believe it or not, we had one paddle that we held on to after we flipped. We layed down on our bellies & each of us held on to one side of the paddle. We were going to let the river take us down. I could hear the interstate, so I knew we were hopefully not too crazy far from our stopping destination. And then in the distance, we saw the man in the kayak. He came upon us but continued on. He said the others were behind him. Along came a guide. She said, "Where is your boat?" I told her it had sunk back a few hundred feet. She called in to let the other guides know. Along came another guide & she said, "We found a paddle!" We all waited for a few minutes & saw a couple of guides pushing our boat next to theirs. Luckily, someone spotted something on the side of the water. They went to it & saw it was our boat. The guide told me they became frantic because they thought maybe Trevor & I were trapped underneath it. Thank God, that wasn't the case.

So, they loaded us in & tied us up to the back of their boat. We got taxied the rest of the way. It was a huge relief! We unloaded & waited on a truck to take us back to our starting point. I told the lady that I had no idea where my step-dad & niece were. She said, "I think we picked them up about an hour and a half ago. He told me they still had 2 people that weren't accounted for. And he dropped his phone in the water, so it isn't working." She drove us back & there sat Duane & Kayla. The look on their face was relief. Duane said he heard where there were 2 canoers that needed to be "rescued".

I got home & was relieved & tired! Trevor had a baseball game last night & it was one of the best games he had played!

I've realized one thing...there is no way in he^% I could ever be on Survivor! But, my flip flops were rescued along with our water camera. Maybe I'll have a few pictures later!