A bad day on the Flat River
| River: | Flat |
| Skill: | Intermediate+/Advanced |
| Trip Date: | 01/05/2021 |
Richard Mann and I pulled up to the low water bridge on NC State Forest Rd. last Sunday. The water was just deep enough going over the bridge that I would not dare to drive across it. I have run this section dozens of time when the water was going over the bridge but this was a new concrete bridge. It was built higher than the old wooden bridge (that would wash away all the time). I estimated the river to be running 7 feet. I fun level to jump into the fluffy bunny hole. I was wrong. The river was peaking at 11 feet. This is not a good level for swimming and that’s just what I did. At the first big rapid at the entrance to the “Gorge” I made a rookie mistake, flipped, miss my roll and swam. My boat decided to run the river without me. I made it to shore with great difficulty and one shoe missing. I saw Richard desperately trying to stop my boat. I looked down stream and saw a rock face dropping into the water. I looked upstream and saw the same thing. Then I noticed a cabin on top of the bluff. It was not a climb I would normally attempt but I climbed, grabbing trees and clawing my way up. The cabin was condemned and dilapidated. Richard stashed his boat in the woods and he too had to climb out. We met at the cabin and began to walk down the dirt path headed towards the paved road. We walked about a mile until we hit Wilkins Rd. A few minutes later a sheriff’s deputy rolled up and asked “Are you missing a red kayak?” I said “#$!! yes.” “Well it has drifted by the boat ramp on Lake Michie.” Then the EMTs showed up next. They kept thinking I was hypothermic but I was wearing a dry top and dry pants. They sent a police car to my house so he could tell my wife they had found my body. They had a helicopter ready on the pad. They took me down to the boat launch and there were a half dozen or so cop cars down there with a drug sniffing dog. How did they know? It was a nice dog. Finally the Durham Parks and Recreation fellows showed up with a motor boat and sped off to get my kayak. They said it was very close to going over the dam. My missing shoe was in my kayak. Some how I managed to break two toes climbing out of the gorge and walking down the gravel road in my sock foot. My foot was too numb to notice. Yesterday I took Richard back to get his boat. A bad day on the Flat for sure.