Haunted House

Haunted House was tricky, it drops into a hole, and then has a very strong flow that pushes you into "The Wall of Pain."



This is "The Wall of Pain," a rock slab that everything was getting washed into. Its a tight rock crevice with strong boils and surging water levels, that made it extremely difficult to paddle out of. Only one of us was able to paddle out after putting up a strong fight.


Paul Martzen writes, “This reminds me of the time that I flipped a raft in Haunted House rapid. I came up underneath the raft and I had a moment or two of thinking I should get out from under there, until the current sucked me deep and the raft was no longer a concern. I remember being stable for a while and swimming up towards the surface, but not making any progress. It was very puzzling. I was not being tumbled or anything. I was suspended vertically. I could not see the surface, but I knew it was up. I was not swimming hard, but taking long strokes. Nothing seemed to be happening. So I thought that maybe, I should conserve oxygen and not swim at all. Worrying about oxygen always sort of detracts from these experiences. I try not to, but it seems hard to help. Any rate, swimming definitely was not helping so I stopped and just hung there, trying to think deep Zen, hibernation sorts of thoughts. I can't remember exactly what I felt as far as the current, but it seemed like I was shuffling sideways. After a little while I was shuffled sideways far enough and I felt myself rising and saw the water getting brighter. Then I allowed myself a stroke again and I surfaced without any more delays. I assume that I was floating down in the room of doom area. The current drops over a wide ledge into narrow channel between the ledge and a wall. There is no room for the current to resurface so it goes deep then moves sideways out to the main channel. I was probably floating above the main sideways flowing current at a level where my lifejacket and neoprene buoyancy were just equal to the downward flowing current. It was an interesting sensation, though I suppose, I should not recommend repeating it.”