I almost died this afternoon- or, at least, I came uncomfortably close to doing so.
With all the rain we’ve been having here in Texas, lately, I figured Barton Creek would have a good bit of water… so, after work, I picked up the dogs and drove down there. After hiking down to the creek, I found that yes, it actually had quite a bit of water- it was really flowing.
So the boys and I hiked down to Twin Falls- it’s about the best-known swimmin’ hole on the creek. The water was so high that technically it was three falls- the two main falls were going full blast, and the larger, more sporadic cascade was also going. Normally, this time of year, it’s bone dry down there- but today, the main pool was at least twelve feet deep.
So, I took the boys off leash and walked over to the cliff- and then jumped in. To my surprise, Two-Tone, my Australian Blue Heeler mutt, dove in after me. I was really surprised- he may not be smart, but at least he’s brave.
I could tell immediately, though, that he was having problems- the boundary point between the twin falls and the overflow channel has a lot of eddies, and he was stuck right between 'em. He kept getting sucked under- so I stroked over to him, ducked my head under water, grabbed his butt, and shoved him towards shore.
Unfortunately, while this got him out of the boundary point hydraulics, it put me smack dab in the middle of it. Plus, I was now underwater- and I suddenly realized I was still wearing my Tevas. The sandals essentially turned my normally quite hydrodynamic feet into bricks- I kicked as much as possible, but I couldn’t get any purchase on the water. My upper torso was caught in the aeration from the falls- the bubbles meant that the water was basically frictionless to me. I couldn’t pull myself up through it.
I was effectively stuck, about three feet below the surface and above the water, hovering in place.
Normally, I can hold my breath about 45 seconds to a minute, and I’ve never had any problems with rapids- I just hold my breath, sort out where I am and where I need to go, and calmly make it happen. Normally, that is.
When I’d ducked my head under to shove Two-Tone out of the hydraulics, I hadn’t had a chance to take a complete breath- I only had a few more seconds of air. To make matter worse, the sandals I was wearing were notoriously difficult to take off- between the snap lock and the velcro, there was no way I’d be able to slip them off before I drowned.
Okay, so the feet are completely useless. No problem- my feet are rather small, so I don’t normally rely on them when I swim, anyway- I get most of my pull from my arms. I knew which way to swim to get to the closest edge of the hydraulics- luckily, I hadn’t gotten turned around in the eddy.
I pulled once, really hard, in the direction I needed to go. I could see clearly through the water- I was still about two feet under. I pulled again, with my lungs burning- and, for the first time in my life, I started to panic when I realized I was still too short. I’ve NEVER panicked in water before- I’ve always been rather proud of the fact that water holds no fear for me.
My mouth started to open. I couldn’t help it. I felt the water start to trickle into my mouth- and then my head broke the surface. The unstable water at the boundary point had shifted, giving me just enough force to get my head above water. It’s a good thing, too- I was completely useless. There was nothing left; fighting the current without a deep breath, first, had completely exhausted me. I let the water carry me to the shallows about twenty feet downstream, and I sort of collapsed onto a shoal of river rocks.
I’m still feeling weird about all of this. I’m going back there tomorrow, because I don’t want to be afraid to get into the water- you know, the old “climb back onto the horse you just fell off of” deal. I’ve always felt at home in the water- I’m not going to start fearing it, now.
You can bet I’m going to take the Tevas off, first- and Two-Tone’s gonna stay his ass on the shore. 