Fresh out of whitewater school, I jumped at the chance to help out on a VIP trip on the North Fork of California's American River. We wanted to show some state legislators what would be lost if the proposed Auburn Dam were built. We almost lost the legislators.  

At the put-in, the temperature was in the 80s. I was sure I'd be fine, but the trip leader insisted I wear a wetsuit. It took a good 10 minutes to shoehorn myself into it.

Once we got on the water, it became clear that the flow was high. Really high. Too high. We never should have gone.

A quarter mile in, we hit Chamberlain Falls. The first boat flipped. Our boat "tacoed," and I was sucked into the churning hole beneath the falls.

I'll never forget how deep that hole was. I was spun around, washing machine-style, for what seemed like an hour before being spat out far downstream. 

I crawled to shore, out of breath and chilled to the bone. That wetsuit saved my tush. The VIPs survived as well, and the dam was never built.