How to Swamp a Canoe Story
Four years ago, I was leading a canoe trip for my church through The
Trough in Hampshire County, WV. The Trough is a seven mile river gorge
in the beautiful and rugged Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. It
was aptly named by George Washington during his surveying years because
it resembles a trough. The only way to gain access to The Trough is
either by canoe or the scenic railroad. The ruggedness of the terrain
makes it a wonderful habitat for golden eagles and our nations treasure;
bald eagles. Of all the local canoe runs in Hampshire County, this is
by far my favorite.
During this canoe trip my brother was the navigator and I was the stern paddler responsible for steering the canoe. On this day, we made a great paddling team. We were running the challenging rapids perfectly and were enjoying the beautiful scenery The Trough offered us this day; and we were enjoying each challenge the river brought our way. We successfully maneuvered our canoe through small ripples to the more severe Class II offset rocky ledges without capsizing or swamping the boat.
We were feeling great and even a little prideful because of our skill at running the river. Towards the end, we were well ahead of our group, so I decided it was best to slow down and wait for the rest to catch up with us. As the guide, I do not like to get too far ahead of my group so I can offer friendly advice or helpful tips to those in need. So picture this scene--two grown men, sitting in a canoe, in shin deep slow moving water waiting on the group to catch up. We were simply talking and goofing off when to both of our surprise, one of us made an unanticipated motion that caused us to flip the Old Town canoe. Immediately, our canoe was swamped and our gear was soaked. This was one of the funniest things that have happened to me while canoeing. It was a very surreal moment for both of us because we made it through several challenging rapids unscathed and ended up swamping while sitting still in shallow, slow moving water. Fortunately, the water was only shin deep so it was very easy to recover our gear and the canoe, and it gave us a chance to get wet and cool off, but I would be a liar if I did not admit that our pride was definitely injured. The guide is not supposed to fall, yet here we were soaked and wet. This was definitely a memory that neither of us will ever forget.
During this canoe trip my brother was the navigator and I was the stern paddler responsible for steering the canoe. On this day, we made a great paddling team. We were running the challenging rapids perfectly and were enjoying the beautiful scenery The Trough offered us this day; and we were enjoying each challenge the river brought our way. We successfully maneuvered our canoe through small ripples to the more severe Class II offset rocky ledges without capsizing or swamping the boat.
We were feeling great and even a little prideful because of our skill at running the river. Towards the end, we were well ahead of our group, so I decided it was best to slow down and wait for the rest to catch up with us. As the guide, I do not like to get too far ahead of my group so I can offer friendly advice or helpful tips to those in need. So picture this scene--two grown men, sitting in a canoe, in shin deep slow moving water waiting on the group to catch up. We were simply talking and goofing off when to both of our surprise, one of us made an unanticipated motion that caused us to flip the Old Town canoe. Immediately, our canoe was swamped and our gear was soaked. This was one of the funniest things that have happened to me while canoeing. It was a very surreal moment for both of us because we made it through several challenging rapids unscathed and ended up swamping while sitting still in shallow, slow moving water. Fortunately, the water was only shin deep so it was very easy to recover our gear and the canoe, and it gave us a chance to get wet and cool off, but I would be a liar if I did not admit that our pride was definitely injured. The guide is not supposed to fall, yet here we were soaked and wet. This was definitely a memory that neither of us will ever forget.
Posted by The Outdoor Podcast at 11/30/2011 2:00 PM 
Categories: Canoeing
Tags: How to Swamp a Canoe Canoeing Paddling Stories Canoeing Stories
Categories: Canoeing
Tags: How to Swamp a Canoe Canoeing Paddling Stories Canoeing Stories
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