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| This was the view of where it all happened |
I was moving back to Rexburg after a summer away in Colorado. All summer, I missed the Southfork, as well as one of my best friends and his wife (James and Maddie). I realized if James rode from Star Valley with me and if Maddie met us in Swan Valley from Rexburg, we could float a nice section of river before dark and then head on to Rexburg. We planned on meeting around 2:30 and floating from Irwin down to the bridge. We were running late, so we decided to shorten the float and avoid the dark by just floating from the bridge down the the Southfork Lodge. Because of the shortness of the trip, James and Maddie didn't want to buy day fishing licenses. I was fine with that because I hadn't seen James and Maddie for months and wanted to catch up with them, and it also meant I got to fish! James has been on a number of trips with me and has learned to row quite well.
I jumped in the boat and started fishing, James rowed, and Maddie enjoyed the scenery. We were carried away in the beautiful afternoon by our pleasant conversation. The next thing we knew we were approaching the last hole, still fish-less. Anyone who has ever been with me knows how much I hate getting skunked. I usually threaten whoever I am with by saying, "We can't go home 'til we catch at least one." I asked James to pull over and I would fish the last hole really well from the bank before we finished the float. James pulled over, I jumped out and started working the hole.
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| Happy to have my boat back |
A few minutes later I hear a panicked, "Ghost look!" (ghost is the nickname my friends use for me) I looked to my left and my heart dropped like it never has. My boat was floating in the middle of the river without anyone in it! I didn't know what to do... my boat was drifting away with all my gear, including my life jacket. My only option was to swim without a life jacket into a strong Snake River current. I dropped my fly rod, pulled off my shirt, and jumped in. The water was cold, the sun was down, and three or four strokes into the river, I realized there was no way I could swim fast enough to reach my boat. I turned and came back to shore.
I then started searching other options. We were on an island, with the main channel on our left and a side channel on our right. After the first side channel there was another island and another side channel to reach the bank of the river. I thought if I could make it across the two side channels, I could follow the boat down the river and hopefully with some good luck and an answered prayer, the boat would be pushed to the bank. It was my only hope. I ran up the island so I could have plenty of time get across the channel and onto the other island without the current carrying me into the main channel. Fortunately, it worked and I made it. I reached the second island and had just one more side channel to swim. Tired and not thinking as well as usual, I jumped in the next channel with out running up the river enough.
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| James rowing like a mad man |
Anyone who has ever swam in a river knows it is not possible to swim straight across a river. You have to swim down and across at a diagonal. This mistake cost me energy that I didn't think I had. I made it through the faster part of the river with a front crawl, but because of the way the river pushed me, I had to swim through a large pool and switch to the breast stroke. It is hard to describe how I felt. I wanted to just quit swimming but I knew if I did, it would be over. I found the energy to get across and pulled myself on the bank, completely soaked, cold and out of breath with my boat continuing down the river. I prayed and started running. I was so tired I couldn't really run but I tried. At one point I needed to jump over a log with a 12 inch diameter. Normally this is not a challenge, but as I jumped my feet caught the log and my shins hit and slid. It hurt, my head was throbbing, body was cold, and I was still out of breath. I got up, and continued to fight through the brush and bushes. I couldn't see my boat, but I continued, stopping frequently to try to breathe and think. I got down the bank a ways and found that my efforts wouldn't be enough. My boat continued and the bank turned to a cliff area, with the only option being to swim again. I knew I couldn't do that. I didn't have any more energy. I sat down, cried, and prayed. I prayed that some how things would work out.
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| This was the view on our Sunday morning boat rescue |
James wanted to follow me through the side channels, but I told him to stay with Maddie. I was so grateful he did. Some of the Southfork guides had watched the whole thing and went for their jet boat to come to the rescue. This was a huge blessing and miracle. They were able to hookup, gas up, and launch the jet boat, fast enough to speed down to my boat. They anchored it to safety, then came and picked me up. I was so thankful for them. They were super nice and happy to be there to help. One of the guides assured me it was a mistake many boat owners make just once. He had it happen to him and they had all seen it before. Although, it was nice to know I wasn't the only one out there making the mistake, I still felt like an idiot. We headed up river in the jet boat, picked up James and Maddie, and headed to the boat ramp. I was still super embarrassed and humbled by what had happened. I was so carried away with the satisfaction of friends and fishing that I wasn't being responsible for my boat. I didn't even check the anchor when we got out of the boat, and it wasn't out far enough. The boat had moved just enough to pull the anchor off the rocks. Because of this, the boat floated between one and two miles past the boat ramp, James and Maddie lost all confidence in my fishing capabilities, and I almost went down with the ship!
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| More effort was spent on this fish than any other I have caught |
It was almost dark, and the next accessible boat ramp was about 20 miles down river. We didn't have a choice, but to go to Rexburg without the boat. This meant we had to come out first thing in the morning to find someone willing to take us to the boat so we could row out to the next boat ramp. Sunday morning we woke up early and were at the ramp by 7:30. The first boat we asked happened to have two empty seats and were willing to take to us to my boat. James and I got to the boat in good time and then we took turns rowing nonstop for three hours. We made it out without any further problems and even caught a fish! The best part was that we made it back to Rexburg in time to make it to 1:00 church!
Looking back, I can't help but realize that even though things went wrong, Heavenly Father was aware of the dangers and He heard and answered our prayers. He always does through giving strength we don't have and placing people in our paths who can help and even save us.
Remember if you have a boat, to drop your anchor with plenty of slack. I now like to drag it by hand onto the shore when possible!
