71–80 of 474 posts
> laughing as we chanted it on the days when we took acid and went swimming. WTF, even without the additional "challenges" of Yellowstone Lake.. I neither would nor could imagine go swimming then :o
Please don't fuck with nature for fun. It's all great memories, but one of 100 of you will die and someone else has to find your body and clean up your mess.
One time, I was driving at night in the Sierra after a storm - roads were covered in snow. It's a drive I've made close to 100 times without incident. Going around a bend, I saw a car in the ditch on the outside of the curve. I stopped the car, put on the hazards, and went to see if there was anyone in the car. As I was about to cross the highway a car come sliding around the bend more or less sideways. I stopped and…
Do your research before getting into rivers. My local river has several gauges and hotlines you can call to get dam releases. They also have a chart of the water release amounts and if you could paddle/float/canoe/kayak etc. It even has a turbidity gauge that will show you if any harmful bacteria is present, we have issues with fertilizer runoff and e-coli. It's a rather mundane river in an area not as known as Glaci…
Acquaintance did some suburban kayaking and didn't see a 3ft drop (some kind of dam or culvert under a bridge) until too late. The fluid mechanics of that drop are such that there is a vortex at the base that makes it difficult to get out. He was able to stand but just barely - scary to think how close a call that was in a pretty innocuous looking setting.
Turns out I had set up my tent on a barely-visible trail that they were probably accustomed to using to get up and down the slope. I don't know if I was really in any danger, but I gained more respect for moose after that.
Ironically, I'd spent the entire hike that day worrying about a bear encounter, but the only time I saw a bear was from long distance, across the valley, a mother and her cub.
One time, I was driving at night in the Sierra after a storm - roads were covered in snow. It's a drive I've made close to 100 times without incident. Going around a bend, I saw a car in the ditch on the outside of the curve. I stopped the car, put on the hazards, and went to see if there was anyone in the car. As I was about to cross the highway a car come sliding around the bend more or less sideways. I stopped and…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Acquaintance did some suburban kayaking and didn't see a 3ft drop (some kind of dam or culvert under a bridge) until too late. The fluid mechanics of that drop are such that there is a vortex at the base that makes it difficult to get out. He was able to stand but just barely - scary to think how close a call that was in a pretty innocuous looking setting.
Those are called "weirs", and often known as drowning machines. Practical Engineering on youtube has a great video about them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkR79oDAgOg&vl=en
edit: link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVDpqphHhAE
Do your research before getting into rivers. My local river has several gauges and hotlines you can call to get dam releases. They also have a chart of the water release amounts and if you could paddle/float/canoe/kayak etc. It even has a turbidity gauge that will show you if any harmful bacteria is present, we have issues with fertilizer runoff and e-coli. It's a rather mundane river in an area not as known as Glaci…
Acquaintance did some suburban kayaking and didn't see a 3ft drop (some kind of dam or culvert under a bridge) until too late. The fluid mechanics of that drop are such that there is a vortex at the base that makes it difficult to get out. He was able to stand but just barely - scary to think how close a call that was in a pretty innocuous looking setting.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Acquaintance did some suburban kayaking and didn't see a 3ft drop (some kind of dam or culvert under a bridge) until too late. The fluid mechanics of that drop are such that there is a vortex at the base that makes it difficult to get out. He was able to stand but just barely - scary to think how close a call that was in a pretty innocuous looking setting.
Yep. A couple of girls got killed in Pittsburgh a few years back. They were kayaking down the river and didn't realize a dam was ahead. People die all the time in nature for lack of preparedness because they don't know the environment they are getting into and they don't know their limitations. This also endangers rescuers.
Do your research before getting into rivers. My local river has several gauges and hotlines you can call to get dam releases. They also have a chart of the water release amounts and if you could paddle/float/canoe/kayak etc. It even has a turbidity gauge that will show you if any harmful bacteria is present, we have issues with fertilizer runoff and e-coli. It's a rather mundane river in an area not as known as Glaci…
I’ve done a decent amount of white water and stories like this make me shiver. If you’re in moving water, standing is surprisingly dangerous. Float or swim (depending on the current) to calm water and get out there. If you stand (and especially walk) in a fast current, you’re asking to get your foot caught and then drowned.
There aren't even any classed rapids in this area its more of a lazy river thing. An hour or so away there are some cool rapids leftover from prior Olympic Games that has a consistent dam release.
We were on sit on top kayaks.