[Paddlewise] Whirlpools and Other Dastardly Thingys

   One of the really interesting ways to experience the hydraulics of a
fast flowing river is to get in it with a mask and snorkle and go with
the flow. You get to see fish and count beer cans. I've done this on the
Clackamas River and made a serious discovery.
   There is a spot where the river crashes perpendiclarly into a big vertical
rock wall. The water has to go somewhere, so it chooses to plunge directly
down to the river bottom, then exits downstream along the rocky bed. I know
this because I got trapped in it.
   As I discovered, the only way to survive this is to swim downwards with
the current (not exactly instinctual) and eventually you pop up downstream.
It's not possible to swim towards the surface alongside the headwall because
the downward current is just too strong. That day was the closest I've ever
come to drowning.
   A rafting party did encounter the same kind of situation on the same river
some years later, and a young man perished. There is absolutely no warning
for a rafter or kayaker that such a spot can be your last. There probably
should be a danger sign.

BRC
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