We're in the middle of a 3 hour trip down the Skykomish river. We are at the rapid after the supposedly biggest rapid. Naturally, we think nothing of this current rapid. Apparently every other rafting guide told their crew about the "Lunch hole". This hole acts much like flushing a toilet except that the water level doesn't go down. It has the effect of sucking one side of your raft so that your raft is vertical. It's like this at the bottom left of the picture:
We were in six man raft + 1 guide. I was in the front left, the guide is in the back. I had no idea it was coming. We hit a big splash. Three guys flip backwards simultaneously like they were scuba diving. At first I chuckled because it looked like synchronized swimming.
Before I could complete my smile, our raft whips around 180 degrees which tossed out the other dude in the front. There are three people left in the raft: me in the front, a dude in the middle, and our guide. Our raft is now almost vertical. In this situation, we are supposed to get to the high side of the raft. I'm currently at the bottom. I yell at the guy in the middle to get to the top. He's frozen. He's in my way so I can't get to the top. The pressure of the water on my legs is growing and I know I'm going to go for a swim.
I have no leverage. The guide at the top of the boat has no leverage. The guy in the middle has all four limbs wrapped around something. A sideways wave knocks the guide and me off the raft. I fall right in the middle of the hole.
My experience is painted by stupid moves followed by less stupid moves.
Stupid Move: I manage to catch the rope on the side of the raft. I'm underwater, but I try to pull my self back into the raft. I expended a lot of energy just to do a chin up.
Less Stupid Move: Why would I want to get back in the raft which is stuck in the hole? With blind faith, I let go and try to relax.
I'm quickly pulled underwater, but I don't move anywhere. I'm stuck under the boat.
Stupid Move: I panic and try to swim away. I've already used a lot energy and this can't be a good move. I do this for a couple seconds
Less Stupid Move: I relax and try to let the current take me...and it does.
A few seconds pass as I'm being whipped around underwater. The river decides to tease me and releases my head briefly to the surface. This brief moment allows me to realize that I'm still in the middle of the rapid. Before a breath could be taken, I'm pulled back under water.
Stupid move: I panic again and try to fight. At this point, I have negative air supply. In my mind, death is a certain possibility.
The sound of rushing water is massively intense. Even when you relax it still feels like you are wasting energy because you are being whipped around.
A few seconds later, I get my first breath. I glance back to where my last breath was taken and realize it was 30 meters away. I'm also not so far from the next rapid, so I utilize my Blue level swimming skills to swim to shore.
Immediately, I was worried about the others. Most escaped with nothing more than a good story. One guy, however, dislocated his shoulder.
I was really looking forward to this trip and it exceeded my expectations. This was absolutely awesome. I've come as close to death as I've ever been, so would I do it again?
Hell yeah!
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