surecatch's post on another thread got me thinking about ill fated turnarounds...

..sometimes I have a pretty sharp leaning curve so I have several good ones...

My most memorable turnaround happened eight years ago after a buddy and I had set a bicycle in the Morgans area of the Hoh as a turnaround for a float from the park boundary.

Of course the trouble started when we were late getting to the takeout...About three pedals after I hit the blacktop the chain on the bicycle we had set broke leaving me to ride the bike skateboard style for about five miles...

...in the pitch dark...

...through the 'black forest' area of the upper Hoh...

Nothing so spooky here...just the standard fly-out-of-bed-because-the-alarm-didn't-go-off mornings where I didn't get any coffee before I left the house.

Subsequently all decisions were suspect, including the one where I decided to leave my keys to the shuttle vehicle tucked safely into the console of the tow vehicle parked at the launch ramp.

At the end of a long float, I rode the moped all the way back to the truck without a set of keys. Nothing like riding the moped for two hours when you are already tired.
Not a complete disaster but annoying.

I have done the, oops left my keys in the dry bag before. Man does that suck, especially while hitch hiking... 3 hrs of extra turnaround time.

But it isn't as bad as loosing a trailer off of a hitch

non- fishing turn around story. I went for a rafting trip with the crew from work once on the american river in northen ca. we had planned to raft the placerville to coloma run. about a 3 hour trip. Well by the time we got to coloma I was hitting it off with the young lady we had hired as a guide. So the two of us decided to run the rest of the river by our selves down to the bridge at salmon falls. we told the guys to move my truck down there on thier way home. 4 hours later me and her put in at salmon falls to find a empty parking lot and a settin sun. while jumping up and down cussing I could hear my truck keys jinggling in my pocket, which did not stop me from cussing but only caused me to redirect my insults inward. I walked/jogged for 4 miles before i was given a ride. The guy driving a 69 vw wagon stoped and picked me up. He had just came from a wedding that he had D.J.ed. As much as the vw wagon was loaded with speakers and milk creates of records (yes i feel old) it was not half as loaded as the guy driving. I drank 4 beers and 3 shots of rum in 16 miles just so I would feel no pain when we hit somthing coming down those hills. I survied till we got to my truck despite the two road signs and 50 ft of fence that did not make it. 20 minutes later I was back at the raft and the girl. we made it about 10 miles towards home when the battery and alt. gave up the ghost. 4 more miles walking to a phone and called a freind to come get us. i got home about 1 am only to figure out that I lost the girls number. I got up a 5 am to go to work but i was not worth much that day.

Not really a turnaround story but just as good. Was going to take a coworker on his first steelhead fishing venture. Picked him up at his house right after work and we proceeded to make the 50 mile drive from Salem to the stretch of the North Fork Santiam where they had been nailing them. I jumped out of the truck and proceeded to set up my pole when he looked at me and said "you're not going to believe this but I forgot my pole" "Dont tell anybody"

Starcraft Tom I'm thinking that first "date" might have put her off anyway. :p

A couple of years back took a buddie to the Nooch.Did Schaefer creek to white bridge.get to the launch and say let's go get my rig.He says I left my keys in your rig.I thought he was joking,but he wasn't.He said he thought his keys would b safe in my rig.Luckily he had an older rig and I managed to hot wire it,but he had an alarm system that went off for 5 minutes at a time and would reset itself over and over again all the way back to my rig.Then we get back to the boat ,load up, and he leaves my anchor there.

Good story Starcraft.

Many years ago a friend and I started down the Hoh (first time). His drift boat was more like a cement mixing tub or kids sand box and we broke an oar the first 100 yards. We continued on with a tree branch and 1 oar. The 6 pack didn't last long, we never wet a line and when we reached the take out we just got out and set that tub loose. Survival trip!

Oh, the turn around part ----- his keys were in a lunch sack under the boat seat -- and it was last seen headed toward the Pacific...... he also 'hot wired'........