Colorado

Lost in Lava ~ By Carroll DeKock

September 2, 2008 saw us at Lees Ferry on the Colorado River.  The group consisted of 16 people, 5 rafts, 4 eighteen-foot self-bailers and one sixteen-foot self-bailer.  There were 4 hard shell kayakers and 4 boaters in inflatable kayaks. As we left Lees Ferry we looked like a small armada about to invade the Grand Canyon.  I had waited 15 years for this day and due to a change in the permit system had joined up with Brad Snow and his son Chris to give us a combined 42 years wait time. That was enough time to give us a prime September put in date.

The first major rapids is Badger where I found myself running lead, which it turns out I did for all but a couple of the rapids on this trip. By the time we got down to Lava, on the 15th day of an 18-day trip, 3 of the hard shells and one of the inflatables decided to run it. The river was running about 14,000 cfs, which gives a big right side but no left side run. When scouting Lava, we could see no line at all at first, and then after some study and discussion with the rafters who had run it the year before we decided on a line. Our plan was to follow the bubble line on the entry tongue until we were just past the big ledge hole on top and then move left as hard as we could through a big V-wave. We wanted to escape some nasty big holes on the bottom right. I had been running lead but on Lava I asked Jason Rice, who is a professional raft guide on the White Salmon, to lead.I normally don’t like to follow rafts because they are slower than kayaks and I was worried about getting too close and maybe running up on him in the rapids. As we started down I gave him about a 100-yard lead, which meant that I really didn’t see much of his line. As I moved into the tongue I saw the bubble line on the right (formed by the laterals coming off the right wall) and knew that is where I wanted to be. On the other hand I felt like I was going much too far to the right by following the bubbles. What I had not programmed into my thinking during the scout was that the entry moves very strongly to the right. So.. instead of paddling with power going down the tongue I am sitting on my paddle trying to decide if I need to be farther right. I took a couple strokes right. The next thing I know I am on the lip of the ledge hole and I fall down into the right side of the ledge hole. A quick right high brace brought me out of the ledge hole but with no momentum. I took two strokes forward and am immediately knocked over. I roll quickly and take another three or four strokes and am again knocked over. Now I have to wait a bit to roll because everything is very chaotic. I feel pressure on one of the blades and again roll up, this time paddling backwards. I frantically look around trying to figure out where I am in the rapids, give a hard sweep to the right to come around, and immediately get nailed by the large hole on the bottom right. Now there is no possibility to roll at all. I feel like I am in a boxing match taking multiple blows to the body. I do not want to swim Lava. The entire rapids supposedly takes only 26 seconds to run, and I had told myself ahead of time that I can hold my breath that long. So, I hang out in this very stable position and wait until things calm down, rolling finally in the tail waves.

The moral of this story is to make sure that you understand everything about your line before committing. I had not realized how far to the right the bubble line would take me. One of the hard shells and the inflatable took the line I meant to take and came through without even one knock down. The other hard shell swam. All the rafts came through fine, although a couple of the oarsmen nearly got knocked out of their rafts. If you want to see what Lava looks like go to You Tube and type in Lava Falls. There are some great carnage shots. 
 

editor's notes:  water at Lava Falls descends 37 ft. over roughly .25 mile.