Yesterday, Claire, Tanvi, and I went inland to Willow Creek with my host Jon and a friend, Shawn. We had been dying for some warmth and decided to escape East where is was 30 degrees warmer!! It was a beautiful day and the beach was just wonderful. The air was warm and the water cool--a perfect combination.The river, which felt more like a really small lake, wrapped around a bend and gave the illusion that the calm waters went on forever. As Claire and I were splashing around in the water (and Tanvi perched on a rock watching) we realized there was a slight current. Claire told me it was getting stronger and it probably would be a good idea to come over to her, but it was too late--we were in the current. I wasnt too concerned--that is until I saw the rapids. But even then, they were small and did not seem to threatening. But then the current got worse and I knew there was no way I was going to get out of it and I braced myself for the rapids. Claire soon followed. There were two sides: The fast side on the right (the side Claire got), and the rocky side on the left (the side I got).
It happened really fast--maybe a minute and a half at tops-- but it felt like forever. The first drop got me paniking. My head went under and if it werent for my hands behind my head would have scraped the rocky bottom. I couldnt get back up and when I finally did I went right back under. All I could think about was that I had to get to the side or I was going to drown--and that I was just like Sassy in Homeward Bound :) I grabbed the first rock I saw but I couldnt hold on, so the next one I threw my body at. It worked, but I banged up my leg pretty good. When I finally crawled out of the water I was shocked that I was out--I thought surely it would take me longer than that. My legs were not working very well from the fright I suppose.
I looked around and I couldnt see Claire. I never did see her, but she was out and OK. I did see Tanvi though and she was pretty panicked. Apparently there had been a helicopter getting water for a fire somewhere and when she had called for help no one could hear her. By the time she got back, we were out. She pointed to a metal pipe sticking out of the water. Water was pouring into fast and I realized how close I was to have been sucked in there (not to mention that 15 min. before I told Tanvi to jump off her rock and get in the water---just a few feet in front of the pipe!!!). If either of us had been unfortunate enough to end up in there--it would have been nearly impossible to get out
!!Meanwhile, Claire was stuck on the other side of the river--too far away to talk to. She would have to cross the current to get back to the beach we were at!! Tanvi and I ran to get help from Jon, and he managed to get Claire back to the right side. Once all together again we talked and laughed about it. We learned a valuable lesson about swimming near moving water.
Aside from that excitement--we had a wonderful time!! The heat was much needed :)
