CHEAT CANYON EPIC by Shane McManus
Incident Report, Cheat Canyon, Sunday July 23, 1.8 ft and dropping.
My partner and I were having a lap on the Cheat Canyon, her Kayak PFD and my… million something…. Lost count now… I digress…. We became separated from our large group of locals at decision rapid while we worked through some first time jitters. I was not worried as her skills are well matched for the river at this water level. Just needed to come together as partners, it was quite beautiful and we paddled the river flawlessly together. We were doing fine but going slowly and found out we were always just monuments behind our large crew.
We were checking out and scouting lower coliseum on river right when she and I both noticed a sit-on-top rec boat being paddled through Pete Morgan’s rapid!!! I rushed to my boat as we also noticed two white water kayaks floating down river with no one in them…. Seconds after I see two people, one in the river and one on river left shore. Even from river right I could see the helmet and PFD they were in were extremely poorly suited for the class V rapid. They needed help… badly.
The sit on top recreational fishing kayak paddled the drop and meandered slowly to river left, but was easily 100 yards down river from the rapid when I got to the left shore in my new Wavesport Score…. I digress again…
I see a young man in an American flag recreational PFD and what looks to be a BMX helmet vertically pinned in the rapid about 20-25 feet from the river left. His upper body was out of the water but he was being shoved into a body entrapment. I see two kayaks, both also pinned on rocks, one about 15 feet from shore and the other, was pinned directly on Pete Morgan rock… in a very very bad spot…
My attention was instantly on the pinned paddler, I had gotten his attention and motioned and yelled to remain calm, I threw my throw rope to him for assurance but I quickly noticed that he would be unable to remove himself from the pin. I walked out into the river and lifted the young novice kayaker onto the rock and into safety. When I assessed his awareness I then brought him safely to river left shore where the other novice kayaker had finally arrived. I then proceeded to unpin and drain the closer boat, a green fluid detox, medium.
Assessing the second boat pinned on Pete Morgan, I knew it needed to be retrieved but daylight was quickly fading. After two downstream retrieval attempts failed I was ready to give up. I paddled to the group of novice paddlers and my partner who was continuing to keep them calm and check in on their awareness while providing me with safety on the river. It was then I learned that the group had all of their phones, keys, etc… everything… in their dry bag… in the pinned kayak, on Pete Morgan’s rock…. I then knew the only path forward was to get the kayak off the rock.
I hiked up to middle of the rapid, put in and surfed into the middle of the river, eddying behind the first large rock rock in the drop. I got out of my kayak and put my kayak on the dry middle rock and proceeded to probe the rocks for footing and pinned kayak with the best tool on the river, my Jimmy Stix… I frigging love that thing. I digress again…
Finding safe and sure footing I walked to the boat, a dull yellow/orange riot magnum with a blue thin dry bag floating above it and clipped into the riots outfitting. I tied my rope to the stern, I pulled down stream, up stream and all around with no hint of a budge. I then unclipped the dry bag with all the critical equipment they needed, re-clipped it to my safety line on my PFD, then re-tied the rope to the bow. I climbed up Pete Morgan’s rock and was able to lever the boat up and out while my partner was waiting downstream for the recovery.
That’s just the beginning. We had to help them paddle out from there on, they had no chance if not. While we recovered their kayaks they lost one paddle, a Werner desperado I’m told. I was towing the riot. We hit zoo at dark:thirty and they had a very challenging time. They opted to tandem paddle the on person, flat water, sit-on-top, fishing kayak, with the young novice paddler in the American flag PFD on the stern, holding onto the paddler. This was our best option through the flat water but the rapids below proved difficult in the near pitch dark.
I ditched the Riot Magnum somewhere after Zoo, as the novice paddlers needed my attention constantly. After lots of bumps, we arrived at the takeout where we reunited with our crew who was worried and waiting for us with pizza thankfully. I believe we got to the take out around 10:10 pm…
I learned a lot, my group learned a lot, my partner learned a lot on her Personal First Descent, which she totally styled!!!! Those novice paddlers hopefully learned also, they had bicycle helmets, swimming goggles, a flat water kayak and recreational PFDs, no whistle, no light, no medical kit, no rope; just an overly confident attitude that god would protect them, god sent them us, so in a way they were correct. I hope and pray that they live productive lives and they make positive change the world, because their lives were very much in danger. They could have put teams of first responders at risk last night. Instead, a couple loco locals were there to save the day and keep the river safe and clean… right place at the right time. Serendipity working it’s magic ever, single, day. I’m sure I’m missing some details but this is what I can remember after 3 hours of sleep and off to “work”
Hoping to retrieve the Riot Kayak today or tomorrow… there’s a skirt in there too. Holy shit my foot hurts. Anyway, love you all. Thanks for reading my lengthy break down. I want us all to learn as a community. If you see them out there, talk to them, help them, mentor them. They want to join us so much they are willing to risk everything and that gains some respect in my book… they just need help.
Seriously, thank you so much to my tribe; all my friends didn’t give up on us and that means the world to me. They were rallying to help rescue us and do anything to make sure we were safe. To see them waiting, with lights and love, brought us all to tears. I’m one blessed dude. have a stellar day my friends and stay safe, use good gear, don’t be too prideful to ask for help. Nothing is impossible if you can ask for help. Jah Bless
Edit: I’ve edited the post to be more accurate
