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Hey all, I'm kind of tired, so I hope this is coherant enough for you.
At around 11:45 a group consisting of Steve Wright, Bobby (ZoneDogg)
Miller, Ben Dunham, Andy Maser, and Nathan Havens put on the top of
Hornbeck's Creek in the Delaware Water Gap. Mark, Brett, and Mitch
(also on PACreekers) joined us to watch and shoot video! Hornbeck's
Creek is a little-run steep creek consisting of 15 large, cascading
drops in a beautiful canyon of about a mile. Nathan and I had both
hiked the creek previously and had been waiting for rain to run it.
From the top, there appeared to be an ideal level of water, so off we
went. As we approached the first drop (now aptly named "Bobby's
Falls") we all scouted.
It is a slide/falls dropping a total of around 25 feet in a 20 foot
section of river. There were several clean lines, and this drop was
much more straight-forward than many other drops that Bobby, Ben,
Andy, and I have run. It seemed that no matter where we ended-up, we
would be fine as long as we pointed straight down. The entrance slide
on the river left set you up into a perfect "trough" of water that
shot out and clapped on the shelf-rock at just sub-water level on
river left. This was the preferred line. In the middle of the falls,
which had less water going over it, there was a small shelf that
kicked boaters horizontally and out into the deeper pool. Ben, Andy,
and Bobby all hit this to varying degrees on their first runs and
caught different amounts of air. After we had all run the drop, Ben
and Bobby went back up for a second run. Ben caught MASSIVE
IMPRESSIVE air off the lip into the pool.
Bobby set-up perfectly for his second run, but half-way down caught
the side of the lip, which gave him a little air, forced him back
left, and also half-flipped him in mid-air onto his left side. With
massive forward and downward speed, his head slammed into the
rock-shelf at the bottom. He was knocked unconscious and we watched
as his upside-down boat drifted motionless to the far side of the pool
at the bottom.
Within 30-60 seconds, Nathan and Ben had reached him and flipped him
upright. Within about 30 more seconds he started breathing and I
reached him. I am Wilderness First Responder trained so, aware of MOI
for spinal injury, we were careful to hold his head still throughout
the rest of the rescue. He was breathing only through his nose at
first, making faint groaning noises. At this point Brett ran to call
911. Within 2 minutes he was responsive to verbal stimulis, but
couldn't speak. 4 minutes later, we had moved him to the near shore,
and he was speaking (a little). We helped him lift his legs out of
his cockpit so he was lying back in the boat. It was very scary for
all of us until he started talking.
He was having some difficulty breathing (most likely from inhaled
water) and couldn't remember where he was or what day it was. He
complained of terrible head pain. I did a head-to-toe exam which
turned up nothing other than the head-injury. His pulse was strong at
around 110. The EMT's arrived quickly within 10-15 minutes of the
call. By then Bobby was more coherant and could remember our location
and the day. They strapped him to a back-board, and dragged/carried
him out. When we got back to the road, there were at least 6
emergency vehicles on sight. We were told that they were taking him
to a nearby airfield for possible helivac to Allentown Hospital.
Because of his recovered LOC and steady vitals, I was confident that
he was stable and in good hands.
We just got back from visiting bobby in the hospital. He has a little
bleeding around his right frontal lobe, but it's stopped and is
healing itself. They are keeping him for a few days for observation,
but the doctors were very positive. When we saw him, he was joking
around and very happy that they gave him some pain-killers. His
parents were coming up to stay with him tonight.
As for the rest of the day....
After all of the emergency vehicles had left, and we were told (by
Brett and Mark. Thanks again, guys) that they had flown him to
Allentown we hit the "what next?" question. It was now around 2:00,
Bobby would be unvisitable in the ER until 6:00, and we were still at
the top of a great creek. We all had an INCREDIBLE run of Hornbeck's
creek, with Mark, Brett, and Mitch hiking alongside us and shooting
video (3 camcorders!) and Photographs the entire time. I am so
greatful that you guys were there with us to manage the accident and
help with the rest of the creek. The video is AWESOME. I hope to
share it with many of you. I'm too tired to post an entire write-up
for the creek, but it ROCKED!!!
But we were most greatful to see Bobby in the hospital and know that
he'll most likely be alright. I'll keep you updated when I hear from
him tommorow. WHAT A DAY. Time for bed. Goodnight all. Thanks to
everyone who was involved with today's trip and rescue.
Stephen Wright |
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Accident Report/Trip Report on Hornbeck's Creek, PA New 
BoaterTalk 
