Adventure Files: Family Canoe Trip Gone Wrong Part 1

Brother and sister in the most peaceful setting
they have ever known.
Photo: Chris Carson

When I was about 10-12, years old, I spent half of my summers at Camp Stewart on the Guadalupe.  I participated in sports like tennis and golf among other things.  We were trained in outdoors actvities as well, such as: archery, horseback riding, riflery, hiking, camping, and of course canoeing.  We learned a lot of techniques including how to flip and re-enter a canoe, the J-stroke, and how to work together in a tandem canoe. None of these things were helpful during the events that were about to occur.

Last July (2015), I took a Guadalupe River canoe trip with my family.  I thought it was a fun idea.  I had been trying to take my son Cole (who had just turned 10) on this trip to do some fishing the summer before and didn’t get a chance to do so.  This time, Cole wanted his 11 year old sister to go with us. 

I don’t generally like to be outnumbered with these two, so I spoke with my wife and agreed that we would drop the fishing portion of the expedition and just take an easy going, serene canoe trip with the entire family including Cody (the 4 year old). 

Before we left, I had a safety talk with the two older kids.  In this talk, I covered all the basics. I told them that we were going to the river and that it could be a dangerous place and that no matter what happened, if there was an emergency they were to swim to shore.  I told them they would keep their life vests on at all times and listen and do exactly what we say when we say. As it usually goes with talks like this; it began to get out of control with their descriptions of what they would do if something happened.  I brought them back to reality by telling them to listen and that these could possibly be life or death situations.

Guadalupe River
Photo: Bryan Taylor

We borrowed a canoe from a friend and went to Big Foot Canoes on the Upper Guadalupe, where we rented a second canoe. This is a beautiful working cattle ranch on the Guadalupe that also rents Canoes.  I went there years ago when they used to let you camp there and fish all night. Once everything was paid for, we were transported to Nichol’s Landing upriver where Spring Branch road crosses the Guadalupe. 

After getting our gear situated we thanked the driver and the gentleman that rode with us for helping us get everything down the trail to the water.  They had been talking about a particular chute that went around a rapid toward the end of the trip and weather it was blocked by debris.  He said it might be fun for the family and would wait and let us know if it was blocked or not. We shook hands and I said that would be great.

I drug the canoes half way or more into the water and got everyone situated.  My daughter Caitlyn and my wife Laura were in the canoe we rented from Bigfoot and I was in the longer one we borrowed from our friends.  I shoved the girls out into the water first, and they got off to a great start.

Immediately upon pushing our own canoe into the water and entering myself, Cody began freaking out.  We had him down in the bottom of the canoe sitting on a folding seat designed to fit a canoe with a PFD (Personal Floatation Device) on top of it.  He also had one of the struts of the canoe in front of him that he could hold onto. Of coarse all of the kids were wearing their PFD’s as well. But, all of this was no comfort to Cody.  The smallest rocking or weight shift had him screaming.

 

I kept talking to him in an attempt to soothe him.  I paddled up next to Mom hoping that would make him feel better, but no luck.  About 5 minutes into this trip I realized that this was a huge mistake.  Not only was I in a canoe with a screaming, frightened, unconsolable kid, there was no return at this point and we were signed up for about a 2 hour trip!

We hit a few small rapids, which actually helped somewhat, because Cody was a little less nervous

about the calm water now. About 30 minutes in, with a few rapids under our belt, I could see Cody still had a death grip on the strut in front of him, so I pulled over into a small area of the river where there was a gravel bar in about 2 feet of water. 

I let the big kids get out and play.  We had some snacks and drank some water.  I eased Cody into the river, which he did not like one bit, but we played and I showed him how his life vest keeps him floating and he began to enjoy himself.

Guadalupe River
Photo: Bryan Taylor

Caitlyn & Cole had fun floating in the current and making their way back upstream. They skipped rocks and played their games.  Eventually, I started floating Cody a few feet from me to Cole and Caitlyn.  He was having a blast.

As we were packing up our canoes, I noticed that one of the four rivets (back right) that held Caitlyn’s seat fastened to the canoe was broken.  This would come into play later. We packed ourselves back into the canoe, and pressed on.  The kids wanted to stop at every rope swing we saw, but I had to explain to them that they were on private property and had No Trespassing signs next to them; a point that did not go over well.

We saw a lot of pretty cool sights along the way.  I dropped a few pins on my iPhone for places I wanted to fish in the future. With every turn or narrow in the river, we faced more rapids and Cody was cool as a cucumber now.  That little stop we made did the trick.  He was no longer white knuckled and was beginning to enjoy the trip!

When we got to the 281 bridge, things took a turn for the worse.  For most of the rapids Laura went first, but at this one, somehow I ended up in the lead heading into the rapids.  I picked out what seemed to be a smooth line only to figure out that there was a drop in this area of the rapids.  I quickly shouted commands to Cole to re-route us through a safer passage and began frantically signaling Laura to follow.  We barely made it into the chute I was directing us to. As we did, we hit a large boulder which threw Cole half way out of the boat.  Thank God for his athleticism and strength; he was able to stay in the boat. Cody was still sitting in his little roller coaster like set up not phased one little bit. Fortunately, he was facing away from what was happening next. 

Creek falls into Guadalupe River
Photo: Bryan Taylor

We bottomed out in the rapids. Fortunately, the canoe was not quartered or broadside or we would have taken on water.  That would have been precarious to begin with, but with a 4 year old in the boat it could have been horrific in a multitude of ways. As I was trying to push us off the rocks with my oar, I looked over to see Caitlyn fly out of the boat.  Their boat turned broadside and Laura went in too as the canoe rolled over. It never dawned on me until just now,  but I wonder if she went in after my daughter or actually rolled... I will have to ask.

I immediately stood up and pushed the canoe ashore with Cole and Cody still in it.  There was a couple nearby that came to help. She and Cole helped drag my canoe up on an island that was about 6 feet away, while the man went after the other canoe.  I told Cole to stay with Cody, which he couldn’t do as his mother and sister were in trouble and he couldn’t have that. Caitlyn had scampered ashore rather quickly.  When I turned around, Laura screamed “Chris the cooler”.  I dove into the rapids just in time to rescue our wallets, phones, dry clothes, and the keys to my truck.

We lost a few other things, but I was more concerned about the fact that Laura was just sitting in the river with the water crashing around her. Caitlyn was trying to get to Laura and we were both yelling at her to get back to shore. Cole rescued a couple more items out of her canoe. I finally got him back to shore with Cody and the kind lady who was keeping the canoe and Cody safe. Laura sat in the rapids trying to gather herself as she was having wardrobe malfunction and crying.  I finally made my way back to help her up, and she was hysterical.  She lost her wedding ring. 

I looked briefly in the water, but I knew there was no hope for that ring.  It could have been washed away, it could have wedged between rocks, it could have been come off where she finally settled or where she fell out.  There was no telling.  But I was immediately more concerned about the golf ball sized knot on her elbow.  I just knew she had broken something.  She had mobility in her arm, and I knew we were getting close to Bigfoot again.  So, we decided to get moving because we knew she would need some first aid soon.  

Check back next week for Part 2 of this adventure gone wrong.  We have only made it about 3/4 of the trip to this point and I will recap some of the lessons learned, what we did right and what we did wrong.  Thanks for reading and leave a comment if you'd like!