On a warm sunny evening at 4:30 on June I assembled a paddling crew to whitewater kayak the mighty Salmo River at high water. I had just spent the week previous burning the candle at both ends finishing up a business plan for Endless Adventure. The crew consisted of my good friends Conner and Dylan as well as my best friend Whisper (Beagle X Sheppard). My dog has accompanied me on several paddle trips and usually bolts along the shore with her CFD (Canine Flotation Device), however some things don’t work out as planned.
The first 2 km of the 10km river trip went smooth with all paddlers dialing their intended lines and Whisper keeping watch while whipping through the trees. When we came to the first major rapid correctly named the Bus Stopper our plans started to change. Whisper didn’t really feel like running with us that day and froze on the shoreline. Being the good dog parent I am I got out of my kayak and planned to hike up to the nearest logging road so I could walk her to the take out and meet up with the other two paddlers.
Whisper The Wonder Dog
Conner and Dylan proceeded to paddle the rest of the river while I bushwhacked up a 70-degree canyon. After an hour of hiking with no logging road in sight I took a rest. Climbing hand and foot up a steep incline while towing my kayak is not the way I intended to spend my Friday evening, especially since I forgot my booties and had my toaster mitts on my feet. I trudged on up the hill in hopes of finding a nice and flat road to trek on. 45 minutes later and about 2 hours from darkness I came to a gully which I could either hike up and around or down, with lost faith in the existence of a logging road I choose to traverse down stream. I figured by the time I reached the river I would be past all the major rapids and could put back on the water and float myself and dog down with no worries. Racing against darkness I hucked through the bush down to the river. About 60 feet from the edge of the river I suddenly lost footing and started to slide down the cliff face towards the raging water. After sliding about 20 feet I managed to grab hold of some roots and cling for my life. I hung from the root with my kayak dangling from my towline attached to my PFD wondering what the heck I was going to do next. With my trusty dog watching from above I proceeded to take out my throw bag and hook a rope to my kayak, next I lowered my kayak onto a rock below. Once my kayak was secure I traversed across the cliff face until I reached a gully and slid down it to the rivers edge. With one more pretty gnarly rapid ahead I got back into my boat and started out again. Within in seconds I realized I had spent most of my energy cliff hanging and thus had no energy to paddle. I fell into the nearest river hole weak and struggling to roll back up, with no luck I pulled my spray deck and swam out of my kayak. From the turbulent water I could see that Whisper was running/sliding down the cliff face after me. I saw her plunge into the river and get worked in the same hole that foiled me. After she disappeared into the hole I swam to the nearest shore and waited for her to submerge. I waited 5 minutes with no sight of my dog. I then pulled myself up onto shore and proceeded to loose my cool. Thinking my dog was drowned and I was alone in the middle of nowhere I sat there wondering what to do. After about 15 minutes of feeling sorry for myself I heard something coming from down stream, readying myself for some bear combat I stood up paddle in hand ready to get tossed around by an angry bear. Exploding through the bush was my best friend and savior Whisper charging at me. I opened my arms and hugged her as she pinned me to the ground licking my face. After a couple minutes of reuniting snuggles she broke free from me and started back up the canyon wall. On my hands and knees I followed her in the dark constantly searching for more energy and will. In just over an hour we stumbled upon the logging road and started our journey to the take out. When reaching the take out I realized that my friends were setting up camp in hopes of looking for me in the morning. Happy to see another person again we quickly changed stories and proceeded home in the middle of the night to our pissed off and worried girlfriends.
What did I learn? Well for one, mistakes seem to compound themselves like a rolling snowball. First mistake- Not having the proper equipment, no booties are fine for the warm and playful Ottawa River in BC be prepared for a wilderness hike at all times. Secondly, leave the dog at home- there are certain rivers I would take my well trained pet with me, short river runs with an established path like the Slocan or sections of the Kananskis not a canyon walled river or creek. Put in time was also foolish give yourself plenty of time so if the very worst happens you have ample light to deal with it. You never know when Murphy will show up on the trip. Also, if one paddlers walks out, we all should walk out. Separating the trip increases the chance of error and breaks down communication. Most importantly, have the reason and judgment to self-asses. I may have been a little cocky to think that nothing would go wrong, I would never swim and my dog would keep up. In reality I was tired, unprepared and over confident.
We are mortal act accordingly. BE SAFE!
See you on the River, not clung to a canyon wall,
Chris Ryman
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