- Joined
- Aug 30, 2007
- Messages
- 5,483
So my friend, Ryan, and I decided to go up to Wild Cat Creek in North Georgia recently. We hadn't been up there in a long time and just wanted to make a day trip and hike down the mountain following the water. We weren't strapped (as the kids say) this time. We both knew that more than likely we would end up going throught the water more than once and it was raining, which meant A) we were wet either way and B) we didn't really have to worry about running into anyone else.
Of the gear taken, there was my day kit/bugout bag, a Mora Stainless Clipper, My Leatherman Charge, and my CRKT M21.
We hiked waaaay up the mountains with no bearing, not even paying attention to where we were going, to practice a little land nav. We got to a point where we decided to find the creek and started getting our bearings and picking our route. Without too much trouble, we found the creek. It wasn't exactly where we thought, but we weren't far off. Now it was time to hike down.
After a few creek crossings, we decided that since we were already wet, it was EXTREMELY unlikely that it would turn into a situation that would require us to try to stay dry (like a survival situation), and just because it was fun, we would practice moving down the mountain actually in the water. It was a lot of fun going down rock slides and hiking through the water like crazy jungle ninjas. It was like being a kid and pretending we were sneaking into an enemy camp to go Rambo and blow everybody up.
There were several spots where there would be a rockslide that terminated into another slab angled in the opposite direction. The technique for those was pretty straight forward. Slide down and use your feet and legs to absorb the impact. It was never a very hard impact so the threat of snapping an ankle was very small. However, there was one thing from hiking down creeks with rockslides and such as a kid that I had forgotten, something I garantee you I will never forget again.
I came to one that terminated into an opposing rock face that looked just like all the others. I slid down it at 100 mph and positioned my feet to absorb to stop. THERE WAS NO STOP. Within a milisecond I was well under the water, deep in between rocks, caught in some serious water foliage. For a second I tried to grab the side of the rock and pull myself up but I had become tangled and my chest was wedged between the two rocks. Luckily, for some crazy reason, I didn't panic. I felt that the foliage was the main problem and the pack wasn't helping. I couldn't slide the pack off of me so I took out my Clipper which luckily was still in it's sheath (sheath I made by the way
) and cut the strap around my waist and the one over my shoulder and pushed it up. Then, I reached down and cut away a couple of the pieces of foliage that I could feel were restraining me the most. I resheathed the knife and started crawling up. It felt like I had been wdged a good 7 to 9 feet below the surface. When I got to the top, Ryan grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me the rest of the way out. He was noticeably very freaked out and in his shaking voice asked, "how was the trip?" I said, "good, sorry I didn't get you anything while I was down there." lol.
Then I thought, "damnit, my pack." I said, "Ryan, I know this is going to sound crazy, but grab my ankle, when you feel my foot kick, pull me back up." He said, "Are you f#$%ing crazy?" I said, "Thats my favorite pack and it's right there somewhere. I'm not leaving it when I know I can get to it." He agreed and took hold. This time I went in upside down and was feeling around. It was a lot more fun when it was on purpose. I felt my pack and got a grip on it, kicked my foot, and Ryan pulled me back up.
Once it was all said and done and we were sitting on the bank taking in the whole ordeal that had just unfolded, I was thinking, "wow... that was almost death on a stick." It was a damn good thing I didn't panic. I could see that it would be very easy for someone to drown in that situation just from struggling and tiring themselves out and not being able to problem solve to get themselves free. If I had been a little more wedged or tangled, that might have been the case with me. I was definitely lucky that day.
Note to self: Don't do stupid sh#t and let your guard down when you're having fun like a 5 year old in a mountain creek.
...oh also I had my M21 clipped to my shirt in between two of the buttons....yeah it's gone forever. Gotta buy a new one of those now.
So that's my story and I'm stickin to it. Never going to forget again that sometimes there is a big crack between rocks in that formation.
Of the gear taken, there was my day kit/bugout bag, a Mora Stainless Clipper, My Leatherman Charge, and my CRKT M21.
We hiked waaaay up the mountains with no bearing, not even paying attention to where we were going, to practice a little land nav. We got to a point where we decided to find the creek and started getting our bearings and picking our route. Without too much trouble, we found the creek. It wasn't exactly where we thought, but we weren't far off. Now it was time to hike down.
After a few creek crossings, we decided that since we were already wet, it was EXTREMELY unlikely that it would turn into a situation that would require us to try to stay dry (like a survival situation), and just because it was fun, we would practice moving down the mountain actually in the water. It was a lot of fun going down rock slides and hiking through the water like crazy jungle ninjas. It was like being a kid and pretending we were sneaking into an enemy camp to go Rambo and blow everybody up.
There were several spots where there would be a rockslide that terminated into another slab angled in the opposite direction. The technique for those was pretty straight forward. Slide down and use your feet and legs to absorb the impact. It was never a very hard impact so the threat of snapping an ankle was very small. However, there was one thing from hiking down creeks with rockslides and such as a kid that I had forgotten, something I garantee you I will never forget again.
I came to one that terminated into an opposing rock face that looked just like all the others. I slid down it at 100 mph and positioned my feet to absorb to stop. THERE WAS NO STOP. Within a milisecond I was well under the water, deep in between rocks, caught in some serious water foliage. For a second I tried to grab the side of the rock and pull myself up but I had become tangled and my chest was wedged between the two rocks. Luckily, for some crazy reason, I didn't panic. I felt that the foliage was the main problem and the pack wasn't helping. I couldn't slide the pack off of me so I took out my Clipper which luckily was still in it's sheath (sheath I made by the way
) and cut the strap around my waist and the one over my shoulder and pushed it up. Then, I reached down and cut away a couple of the pieces of foliage that I could feel were restraining me the most. I resheathed the knife and started crawling up. It felt like I had been wdged a good 7 to 9 feet below the surface. When I got to the top, Ryan grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me the rest of the way out. He was noticeably very freaked out and in his shaking voice asked, "how was the trip?" I said, "good, sorry I didn't get you anything while I was down there." lol.Then I thought, "damnit, my pack." I said, "Ryan, I know this is going to sound crazy, but grab my ankle, when you feel my foot kick, pull me back up." He said, "Are you f#$%ing crazy?" I said, "Thats my favorite pack and it's right there somewhere. I'm not leaving it when I know I can get to it." He agreed and took hold. This time I went in upside down and was feeling around. It was a lot more fun when it was on purpose. I felt my pack and got a grip on it, kicked my foot, and Ryan pulled me back up.
Once it was all said and done and we were sitting on the bank taking in the whole ordeal that had just unfolded, I was thinking, "wow... that was almost death on a stick." It was a damn good thing I didn't panic. I could see that it would be very easy for someone to drown in that situation just from struggling and tiring themselves out and not being able to problem solve to get themselves free. If I had been a little more wedged or tangled, that might have been the case with me. I was definitely lucky that day.
Note to self: Don't do stupid sh#t and let your guard down when you're having fun like a 5 year old in a mountain creek.
...oh also I had my M21 clipped to my shirt in between two of the buttons....yeah it's gone forever. Gotta buy a new one of those now.
So that's my story and I'm stickin to it. Never going to forget again that sometimes there is a big crack between rocks in that formation.
