I've probably posted on this subject too many times aready. This definitely tops my list of dumb things but was also one of the most memorable. I been avoiding posting this story because it's so long but here it goes:
It was one of the first warm Spring days of April or May of 1995. Two of my friends, Bob and Mike, and myself had been planning on canoeing the scenic Darby Creek located in central Ohio for an entire week. We had a lot of rain that week but hadn't made the connection that the water would be too high until we arrived on the bank toting the canoe. We didn't bring any lifejackets and the canoe tags were two years past legal. The river was more than 12' above normal level which usually requires the occational portage. My friend Bob said "at least we won't have to walk" and off we went. We briskly travelled down the river. There wasn't much time to enjoy the scenery but we were having fun. We came upon a split in the river where I asked my Bob who lived nearby which way to go, he said "uhhhhh, left?" so we did. At the last moment I saw a log crossing the river ahead and yelled "log..go right" and we promptly put the canoe into a spin and lodged the canoe in a brushpile. A large, 6', black snake fell out of the brush and into the canoe. Mike was very scared of snakes and began dancing around the canoe nearly falling out into the fridged water and tipping everone else in as well. The snake must have been just as scared because it quickly slithered out and into the water. Mike regained his composure, we freed ourselved and continued. After a few minutes of Bob and I entertaining ourselves by throwing a piece of rope at Mike and yelling "snake!" and generally poking fun we came upon an area of boulders. The boulders created a series of rapids probably about a class 1 but they might as well have been class 6 considering our canoe experience. We made it about halfway through when our aluminum canoe turned sideways and struck one of the rocks and we all counterbalanced at the same time dumping us into the river. Mike and Bob held onto the canoe while I tried to catch up. They were kicking, trying to get themselved and the canoe to land but the river was too strong. They became tired and started to cramp from the fridgid water. I eventually caught up to them and began kicking and pushing to get them to shore while they just hung on. I was ready to give up and relaxed my legs. Upon relaxing my legs I hit bottom. The water was only about 3' deep! We finished our trip about an hour or so later at a canoe livery. The owner walked out and said "we're closed today" and then realized we were taking out. He said "ya'll must be crazy canoeing this river." He was right. We loaded up the canoe into Mike's truck that we had dropped off early that morning. Mike reached into his pocket and then looked at Bob and I and asked "Did you guys pick up my keys?". He had left them in Bob's truck where we put in. A perfect ending to a perfect day of canoeing.
