North Chickamauga Creek

WARNING: BAD SIEVE

We almost lost a good man to the sieve below the hole at El Roberto on 7/11/2005. Although he had to buy us all beer that night for saving his life, I would prefer to buy my own. I am posting this so nobody else will take this rapid as lightly as we did yesterday. Our party of 6 had a combined 25+ runs on this river and I think that we let out guard down in what seemed to be a fairly innocuous spot. We put on around 12 at about 6.2 on the USGS gauge. The Bowater Gauge read 1.5 when we put on and 1.35 when we took off. The sieve is created by the huge boulder that the author of this picture is standing: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/photos/?photoid=7891

This photo (which can also be seen above is labeled El Roberto by Rob Maxwell) also illustrates the typical line through the rapid: punch the upper corner of the hole and eddy out on river left---avoiding the meat of the hole and the large tree obstructing the narrow exit on river right. From the eddy, you ferry between the backwash of the hole and the truck-size boulder that is blocking half of the river---threading between the boulder and the tree. At higher water, this is an easy move because the eddy is large and the water is pillowing off the boulder. At lower water, the boulder's undercut is exposed and the eddy is small, shallow, and leaks directly into the undercut left side of the boulder with tremendous force. Most of the party had eddied out and the fourth guy (I will call him Lazarus) hit the leaky part of the eddy and began to slip away. He went for the ferry around the rock but didn't make it over the pillow and was sucked into the undercut. He completely disappeared under the rock and at one point we could only see the 18' of his stern. He sprung out from under the rock grasping for purchase but went back under before we could grab him---fingernails scraping down the rock as he went under. While he was down there talking to Jesus, we were there instantly to pull him out with ropes or whatever it took if he surfaced again. He did---and we were able to grab both arms and it took all of us to pull his ass out from under the boulder. Lazarus later explained that it was about 12 feet deep under the rock and very dark. He said that he wouldn't have had the energy to crawl toward the light a third time. I honestly don't know how he was able to manage it twice but he is a wicked strong mf$@%@&.

The main thing I learned that day is to take nothing for granted: paddle down every river as if it were my first run. The other lesson learned is that maybe I will boof the flake next time and take my chances with the hole and tree dance.