Well a few weeks ago, the rains came….and they didn’t stop.  Record rainfall pounded the midwest and the rivers didn’t take long to rise.  On the Friday before the floods, the Root River was running at about 500-700cfs.  This fun but tame level would be the start to a weekend nobody will soon forget. 

Sidelined by the Windy City Kayak Symposium on Saturday, I was anxious to get on the rising Root the following day.  The gauge looked as if it would reach 2,500-3,000 cfs but nobody expected what it jumped to Sunday morning.  I woke up and with my eyes barely open, hit the refresh button for the gauge, and immediately ran out the door.  With the level at over 3,000cfs and the graph shooting straight up, I didn’t want to miss a thing. 

With the current pushing through the trees…everbody was on their toes.  Cautiously finding eddies or just  wide eyed on the shore…nobody could believe the levels or the fact that I was the first to surf All Evil at this menacing level (it as friendlier then it looked).  Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lUb4ip5HMo to see my last surf of the day but this was not even close to the most exciting part of the day.

On only the 2nd or 3rd run.  The Hulk (with an injured shoulder) got flushed off of Upper Pipeline and was immediately met with a vicious low hanging tree.  After grabbing the tree, The Hulk was flipped and swimming in seconds. 

Yard Sale: 1 boat, 1 paddle

 Barry and I were the first and only ones on the scene and nobody wanted to mess with those eddies.  As I escorted The Hulk to shore after All Evil, Barry went on to save The Hulk’s boat.  After The Hulk was safe and sound, I chased down Barry to aid in the boat rescue.  As I was approaching him, he flips and swims.  The Hulk’s boat was now gone under some brush and we think this will now be a nice swim in the golf course…WRONG!  As we turned a corner, we noticed a foot bridge that is now a river wide strainer.  If Barry doesnt get to that last cluster of trees, he must dive down below the foot bridge.  Swimming for his life, Barry pins himself against a tree and my handy rope (the one that everyone thinks is stupid on the Root) pulls him safely to shore. 

Yard Sale: 2 boats, 2 paddles

I continued on down the river/flooded golf course looking for lost gear and as I am coming to the end of the golf course, I saw Barry’s boat pinned against a log jam (that will have to wait till the water recedes.  As I was wading through the flooded golf course, the Hulk’s boat is floating down stream and after lots of frantic scooting and cussing on my part, I managed to get to the boat, clip onto it, and tow it to shore just in time before it met the same fate as Barry’s boat.

Yard Sale: 1 boat, 2 paddles.

Gear rescue missions for the remaining items at the yard sale proved worthless but everyone was safe and sound.  Even though I was dead tired after safety boating, I couldn’t resist the calls of All Evil @ 4,000+cfs…definately a day I won’t soon forget.