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River rescue on the Middle Prong of the Pigeon river TN
Posted by: barry (IP Logged)
Date: July 29, 2008 04:11PM
River rescue on the Middle Prong of the Pigeon river TN New
Forum: BoaterTalk
Date: Jul 29 2008, 15:00 GMT
From: tandemroll1
Saturday July 26th, 2008
River rescue on the Middle Prong of the Pigeon river Greenbrier section TN.
Jean and I had planned on paddling the Pigeon at Waterville Saturday.
We were in the area on business the previous week and had stayed up for the weekend to paddle but rain came in and we decided to go on a drive and explore the area instead.
We found oursleves heading toward Gatlinburg and decided to scout out the Middle Prong of the Pigeon river Greenbier section.
The drive upstream here was a serene summer picture, with fly fishermen , picnickers, and crystal clear turqouis water.
As we headed further up the forest service road, we noticed the water color was changing and i finally told Jean " man that water is rising ! ".
The color changed quickly from, clear turquois to chocolate in what i would say would be about 30 seconds.
As we headed higher up, i would say the water rose as much as two feet. (not sure what the gauges said but it seemed to get high quick.)
Apparently a major thunderstorm had broken out miles upstream in the mountain headwaters and had made itself downstream quickly. The kicker was it was sunny outside! I had just made a joke to Jean and said "Hey you wanna' run it?...we have our boats and all our gear.", when out of nowhere a young man ran out in front of us and flagged us down.
He said "I need help!....my wife is stranded on a boulder in the middle of the river and the water is rising up over the rock QUICKLY!, she is seven months pregnant and we need help!!" Apparently they had been rock hopping and worked their way up from the original trail where they started. The water rose so quickly that she climbed to a high spot and her husband was instantly separated from her. We're talking class III / III+ rapids instantly!
Her husband was calm but determined to communicate to us the seriousness of the situation. We had boats on top and were the first people he met !!!! He was not going to let us go. Jean and I didn't hesitate to act and told Terry (her husband) to hold on while we put on our paddling gear , get our throw ropes and go down to assess the situation.
Terry led us down a steep embankment that he had apparently scaled to get to the road for help and then to his wife. There she was, stranded on a boulder about thirty five feet from the bank. She was crying and not good. The water was rising fast. As we assessed the situation, we decided that Jean should donate her lifevest and helmet to the victim.
Our adrenaline was running high at this point and i had to force myself to slow down and told Jean to do the same as we didn't need a second accident to deal with. We tied Jean's helmet and lifevest to a throw rope and threw them to Brandy. It took me three tries to get it to her.
The whole time Jean had given me a "back" or grabbed my lifevest so i wouldn't fall in. At this point people were starting to stop and look. Jean, now without a vest and helmet ran back to the road and asked a tourist to call 911 or a ranger and request a swiftwater rescue team. We decided this was bigger than us.
Back at the river, with me, Jean demonstrated to Brandy how to fit the helmet and vest and if she were to swim, to grab her knees and ball up. Our biggest fear was the baby would get banged up if she swam, so balling up seemed to be the best solution. The water was so noisy that we had to yell and use hand language to communicate.
Brandy did well with the instruction. I must give Terry credit for being proactive in asking questions on how to be an active participant in
the rescue. We set him up down stream with a throw rope near a recovery pool in case she was to get washed from the rock. Brandy starts to calm down once the vest and helmet are on, and she still holds our throw rope.
At this point we are watcing the water level on the boulder where she is sitting, hoping it will crest soon. We make constant eye contact with Brandy and Terry reassuring them it will be OK.Jean and I decide that the situation is stable and decide not to pull any kind of "hero" move and wait for help.
At the very least we have a vest and helmet on the victim and hopefully help is on the way. We sat like this for what we decided was about 45 minutes. Eventually the water crested at the top of the rock she was sitting on, although we had no idea at the time when it would stop rising. I figured it would have taken at least another half foot or more of water to wash her off.
YESSSS!!! The Calvary shows up.....I think it was the Gatlinburg fire department's swift water rescue team. By now the road was congested with police, fire and ambulance. But wait!!
They mosied down, took their time , talked and pointed a bit and then walked back up. I was like...."damn it !! hustle up!"....but now i know , these guys had done this before.... earlier, Jean and I had to resist the temptation to be driven by adrenaline......remember, "two accidents are worse than one."
These guys had their act together. They set up webbing and anchors on a rock to a main guy with a swiftwater safety vest, then a rope with a brake to the lead man who eventually floated and walked through the rapids to the victim.
The lead got to the victim, added a swifwater rescue vest over the one she was wearing and carabined her to his chest , the whole time still keeping hold of the rope we had gotten to her earlier. Once the two were secure, the lead signaled and we pulled them them to shore. We cheered.
If this story has a moral, I would have to say that it pays to take a swiftwater rescue course and a CPR first aid course through your local paddling club or otherwise. When I was younger, a group of about 7 or 8 people watched a young boy fall through the ice on a frozen lake. We all stood there not knowing what to do while he screamed for help. I walked off with a hollow feeling as we watched him go down for the last time. Two days later they found him. I've carried that guilt with me my whole adult life.
Maybe this time, paddling and training gave us just enough confidence to help someone.
Bob Pierce
Forum: BoaterTalk
Date: Jul 29 2008, 15:00 GMT
From: tandemroll1
Saturday July 26th, 2008
River rescue on the Middle Prong of the Pigeon river Greenbrier section TN.
Jean and I had planned on paddling the Pigeon at Waterville Saturday.
We were in the area on business the previous week and had stayed up for the weekend to paddle but rain came in and we decided to go on a drive and explore the area instead.
We found oursleves heading toward Gatlinburg and decided to scout out the Middle Prong of the Pigeon river Greenbier section.
The drive upstream here was a serene summer picture, with fly fishermen , picnickers, and crystal clear turqouis water.
As we headed further up the forest service road, we noticed the water color was changing and i finally told Jean " man that water is rising ! ".
The color changed quickly from, clear turquois to chocolate in what i would say would be about 30 seconds.
As we headed higher up, i would say the water rose as much as two feet. (not sure what the gauges said but it seemed to get high quick.)
Apparently a major thunderstorm had broken out miles upstream in the mountain headwaters and had made itself downstream quickly. The kicker was it was sunny outside! I had just made a joke to Jean and said "Hey you wanna' run it?...we have our boats and all our gear.", when out of nowhere a young man ran out in front of us and flagged us down.
He said "I need help!....my wife is stranded on a boulder in the middle of the river and the water is rising up over the rock QUICKLY!, she is seven months pregnant and we need help!!" Apparently they had been rock hopping and worked their way up from the original trail where they started. The water rose so quickly that she climbed to a high spot and her husband was instantly separated from her. We're talking class III / III+ rapids instantly!
Her husband was calm but determined to communicate to us the seriousness of the situation. We had boats on top and were the first people he met !!!! He was not going to let us go. Jean and I didn't hesitate to act and told Terry (her husband) to hold on while we put on our paddling gear , get our throw ropes and go down to assess the situation.
Terry led us down a steep embankment that he had apparently scaled to get to the road for help and then to his wife. There she was, stranded on a boulder about thirty five feet from the bank. She was crying and not good. The water was rising fast. As we assessed the situation, we decided that Jean should donate her lifevest and helmet to the victim.
Our adrenaline was running high at this point and i had to force myself to slow down and told Jean to do the same as we didn't need a second accident to deal with. We tied Jean's helmet and lifevest to a throw rope and threw them to Brandy. It took me three tries to get it to her.
The whole time Jean had given me a "back" or grabbed my lifevest so i wouldn't fall in. At this point people were starting to stop and look. Jean, now without a vest and helmet ran back to the road and asked a tourist to call 911 or a ranger and request a swiftwater rescue team. We decided this was bigger than us.
Back at the river, with me, Jean demonstrated to Brandy how to fit the helmet and vest and if she were to swim, to grab her knees and ball up. Our biggest fear was the baby would get banged up if she swam, so balling up seemed to be the best solution. The water was so noisy that we had to yell and use hand language to communicate.
Brandy did well with the instruction. I must give Terry credit for being proactive in asking questions on how to be an active participant in
the rescue. We set him up down stream with a throw rope near a recovery pool in case she was to get washed from the rock. Brandy starts to calm down once the vest and helmet are on, and she still holds our throw rope.
At this point we are watcing the water level on the boulder where she is sitting, hoping it will crest soon. We make constant eye contact with Brandy and Terry reassuring them it will be OK.Jean and I decide that the situation is stable and decide not to pull any kind of "hero" move and wait for help.
At the very least we have a vest and helmet on the victim and hopefully help is on the way. We sat like this for what we decided was about 45 minutes. Eventually the water crested at the top of the rock she was sitting on, although we had no idea at the time when it would stop rising. I figured it would have taken at least another half foot or more of water to wash her off.
YESSSS!!! The Calvary shows up.....I think it was the Gatlinburg fire department's swift water rescue team. By now the road was congested with police, fire and ambulance. But wait!!
They mosied down, took their time , talked and pointed a bit and then walked back up. I was like...."damn it !! hustle up!"....but now i know , these guys had done this before.... earlier, Jean and I had to resist the temptation to be driven by adrenaline......remember, "two accidents are worse than one."
These guys had their act together. They set up webbing and anchors on a rock to a main guy with a swiftwater safety vest, then a rope with a brake to the lead man who eventually floated and walked through the rapids to the victim.
The lead got to the victim, added a swifwater rescue vest over the one she was wearing and carabined her to his chest , the whole time still keeping hold of the rope we had gotten to her earlier. Once the two were secure, the lead signaled and we pulled them them to shore. We cheered.
If this story has a moral, I would have to say that it pays to take a swiftwater rescue course and a CPR first aid course through your local paddling club or otherwise. When I was younger, a group of about 7 or 8 people watched a young boy fall through the ice on a frozen lake. We all stood there not knowing what to do while he screamed for help. I walked off with a hollow feeling as we watched him go down for the last time. Two days later they found him. I've carried that guilt with me my whole adult life.
Maybe this time, paddling and training gave us just enough confidence to help someone.
Bob Pierce
Re: River rescue on the Middle Prong of the Pigeon river TN
Posted by: waveydavey (IP Logged)
Date: July 29, 2008 05:12PM
You beat me to it B6
In Anticipation of Precipitation
WaVeY
In Anticipation of Precipitation
WaVeY
Re: River rescue on the Middle Prong of the Pigeon river TN
Posted by: brentaustin (IP Logged)
Date: July 29, 2008 05:32PM
Yep it is true, it is available.
Brent
Brent
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