Crossing Granit Creek in record flood

[Christophe Noel]

When Granite Creek floods it becomes a play thing for idle hands. It wasn't long ago 4 young guys thought it would be fun to canoe Granite Creek in a flood just like this one. One of the survived.

 

[TangoBlue]

:yikes:Impressive - looked a little dicey on the return trip - you rolled the dice and won. Seen too many floods in my days to chance my truck like that but I'm a Squid not a Coastie.

 

[SWDesertTaco]

:yikes:Impressive - looked a little dicey on the return trip - you rolled the dice and won. Seen too many floods in my days to chance my truck like that....

x2

Noted that you said you spent 45 minutes of prep and reconnaissance prior to entry. Unless there was another vehicle besides your friends Dodge Dakota, not sure that would have been enough to 'rescue' your vehicle. I've seen full size trucks get tossed down washes, recovery came from wreckers chained to 100 year old cottonwoods.

Arizona has a law called 'The Stupid Motorist Law', anytime you cross a flowing wash, river, roadbed you will be liable for any costs associated with a rescue of your person and/or valueables.

No offense, looks like a good time but wrong time of year (cold to swim) and recent flood conditions make that creek more dangerous and too many possibilities for error.

But that's my .02

 

[7wt]

You should have seen this coming Clark. I can't wait for the anti-snatch rope crowd to see the video, you'll be in trouble for sure then.

 

[OldSven]

Awsome:snorkel:

 

[Youngunner]

Sketchy man! Did your floorboard stay dry?

 

[craig333]

Have fun changing all your fluids and repacking your wheel bearings. Hope the econuts don't see that.

 

[Ryanmb21]

Cool video! Risk does equal freedom. I don't see anything wrong with this, he risked his truck which he owns.

How is this any different than surfing big waves, or any other 'risky' behavior? Life would be so boring if we always chose the 'safe' option.

 

[RusM]

Wow, I totally thought you were going over when you hit the middle of the stream the first time! How much water made it into the truck?

 

[RU55ELL]

Ho. Ly. Crap. :Wow1:

 

[Bains98]

you NC folk are KARAZZYY:Wow1:

 

[NothingClever]

Actually, I think there's a future in this type of water crossing....Powertank just has to tap into it by teaming up with Aqua Lung to offer a compatible scuba regulator. You guys just wait...it'll be the rage next season .

 

[Overland Hadley]

Yup. Lucky you did not come across a flood washed log or boulder in the middle.

With that truck floating the way it was, if he'd hit something with his left rear tire which brought him to a stop, the truck would've rolled several degrees to the left, offering underbelly plane to the oncoming rush of water. That 4Runner weighs 5-6k pounds, but has tens of thousands of pounds of water rushing against it every second--not a fair fight.

If enough current had gotten under the truck while it was rolled left those several degrees, the entire thing would've spun like a cork. And there's no way every square foot of river bed was scouted for hidden boulders, logs, and holes prior to the attempt. That water would've swept any wading/scouting man immediately off his feet.

He got lucky. Very. This could've turned out much differently.

People, please respect the immense power of moving water. Mere words cannot do it justice. You're playing with life and death in situations like this.

My $.04

My thoughts exactly. No way to to know what debris or wash-out was lurking in the river bottom, even though a road goes through.

You only need to experience a near drowning in whitewater to know the power moving water has. I have a lot of respect for the power of water.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Cool video! Risk does equal freedom. I don't see anything wrong with this, he risked his truck which he owns.

How is this any different than surfing big waves, or any other 'risky' behavior? Life would be so boring if we always chose the 'safe' option.

I totally agree that life would be boring if we choose the "safe" option. But he was risking a lot more then his truck. He was risking the life of the people that would have helped him, had things gone wrong. Big wave surfers have very experienced people there to help them. I doubt the guy holding onto the bitter end of the strap had truly thought about risking his life had things gone wrong.

 

[Clark White]

Yes, I did see this coming. Part of my scouting while waiting for the second vehicle was taking my pants off and wading on in. I could walk across just fine, though yes it was very cold. Had things gone horribly wrong I am 100% certain that I (maybe not my truck, but ME) would have been just fine. Yes, it was a bit sketchy, but I have done worse crossing under worse conditions. I am absolutely certain I was perfectly safe. Obviously I did not scout every square inch of river bed, but if there were a big rock under there the current would have been different.

Yes, there is a stupid motorist law, which I fully support. I don't see any reason why the tax payers should have to pay for my or anyone else doing dangerous things. I own my truck outright, I would never suggest someone else do it as I know full well it is dangerous, but I am glad I did it.

As far as my fluids, all vent from the snorkel and are all just fine, I have already checked. The floorboards did get wet, but nothing was hurt. Water has to get over the transmission hump to get to the lowest electronics and it barely got wet.

I took a risk, but one that I have lots of experience with, and one that I see as being less dangerous then a lot of things people choose to do. Again, I wouldn't suggest anyone else try this, I did it because I have lots of experience and felt comfortable taking a calculated risk on my own time and my own dime.

Clark