Friends of missing kayakers left notes on a windshield in the North Chickamauga Pocket Wilderness parking lot where the men were expected to exit the water.
After spending about 12 hours in the pouring rain — including a cold, wet night — all Cody Stokes thought about was getting warm.
Stokes, 22, and his two kayaking buddies, David Levitt, 35, and Jason McCroskey, 24, spent Sunday night in the North Chickamauga Pocket Wilderness after the waters on Cain Creek swelled in the heavy rains and became too dangerous to navigate. It also was getting dark, making it impossible to finish their run.
“The rapids become unrecognizable, so we had start scouting out stuff we normally run,” Stokes said Monday afternoon after walking out of the woods. “Then the dark set in. So we just slept and got cold.”
After Stokes was reunited with his family, he looked forward to getting back to his truck. All he wanted was to climb inside and turn the heat on. A note posted on one of the kayakers’ windshields read: “Looking for you,” signed Kat, AG and Stefani.
Frightened family members called local authorities, leading to a search that attracted members of the Mowbray Volunteer Fire Department, Soddy-Daisy Fire Department, Walden’s Ridge Emergency Services, Sale Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Sequoyah Volunteer Fire Department, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue, Hamilton County STARS, Hamilton County Emergency Services and Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.