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| MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU. . . By Driftwood (Craig Tuttle) | ||||||||||||||
| The early 80s provided us with some incredibly high water trips in the Desert Southwest. This particular incident occurred during a guide training trip on the Yampa River, circa 1983, and the flow was over 30,000 cfs, which is extremely high water for the Yampa. Passengers didn't go on training trips so a friend, Roger, came along for company and moral support, but most importantly - to bail. This was back in the days of bucket boats, some of you may be old enough to remember them. As one might imagine, a guide training trip, at least back then, consisted of all guys diligently honing their drinking skills. Being religious boaters, a bottle of "Lord Calvert" was intentionally left at the ready the day we were to run Warm Springs rapid to provide us a little additional courage and to pay homage in a toast to the river gods. When it came time to do so, the Lord was nowhere to be found. Failing to make an appearance after thoroughly searching the raft, our faith in the Lord waned and we decided to run the rapid without the benefit of adequate prayer and preparation. | ||||||||||||||
| The hole in Warm Springs at 30,000 plus rivals Big Bertha in Lava Falls and the run is similar to Crystal, where timing, momentum, and strength are critical to break the lateral waves and prevent getting surfed into the hole. Having seen other boats go into the hole at that level and get thoroughly thrashed, it is obviously in one's best interest to avoid doing the same. | ||||||||||||||
| The run was brilliant. Water! Water everywhere and not a drop on us. As we were drifting along in glee and celebration of making it through Warm Springs rapid unscathed, we unknowingly and unexpectedly dropped into a huge hole . . . sideways! "Surprise" as the hole was named because it caught many other unwary boaters during the unusual high water that year. The raft shook, shuddered, and waddled out of the hole completely full of water. Ugh! We unclipped the buckets and began the arduous task of bailing and once again, SURPRISE! As if from out of nowhere, the bottle of 'Lord Calvert' floated free and appeared before us. Hallelujah! - Praise the Lord! | ||||||||||||||
| Craig Tuttle (Driftwood) | ||||||||||||||
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