Terror in the Room of Doom

We had an early May Westwater Canyon trip in 2010, running around 11,000 cfs.  Things were going great the first part of the trip until Skull Rapid.  It looked like the best run was going to be along the right wall.  I went a bit too far right and high-sided on the wall.  My left oar popped out and went under the boat.  The force was so great that it snapped my prussic cord oar tethers in a second.

So here I am in the Room of Doom with one oar, spinning in circles trying to spot my lost oar.  My wife had bought me a brand new pair of Sawyer Counter Balanced oars last fall for our anniversary and this was the first trip I has used them on. I was very determined to get this oar back.  Every so often we would see it bob to the surface and then disappear under the brown, foamy water in a corner of the Room of Doom.

I took off my splash gear but kept my PFD on and went in for it.  From the corner I was able push off a rock and submerge pretty far underwater. I figured one of these times I would feel it hit against my foot or leg so I could grab it.  At one point I go under and when I come back up my head hits something, and I think what the f*@$!  Why would my buddy row over the top of me with a raft?  I finally get my head to the surface and look over my shoulder to find I had come up under a dead, bloated cow!  I swim back to shore and look around to find not a person standing but all my friends on the ground rolling with laughter.  The cow was in the room the entire time hidden in a large foam pile. It was just my luck it floated over the top of me as I went underwater. 

Needles to say I lost my new anniversary oar that day and hamburgers don’t taste the same as they use to.

by Mark Tucker