LA GRANDE — When La Grande residents Eric Hansen and his 11-year-old son Louis went on their second trip down the Grande Ronde River in a canoe May 4, their day trip into nature ended up as a search-and-rescue mission.

“We got ready to leave and discovered that I had a flat tire and had to get that fixed,” Hansen said. “That gave a later start than what I’d hoped for. Other than that, everything was pretty normal. We launched from a bridge several miles up the Grande Ronde. Everything was great, we were having a great time.”

Hansen, 49, said the situation changed when they came near the Bird Track Springs Camp Ground off Highway 244 a couple miles southwest of Hilgard Junction State Park. There, a 45-degree bend in the river trapped the canoe, and the father and son went overboard.

Hansen said he was able to get himself and his son out of the river after swimming 50-60 yards downstream.

“Once I got out of the river I was fine,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t anything to fear. I knew we had some unpleasantness ahead of us. My panic was in the river. I have never really been faced with the thought of, for a few seconds, I might not get my son back. Once that passed everything else was a lot easier.”

From there, the goal was finding a way back to the highway or a bridge. Their plan that day called for a family member to pick them up at the end of the trip. The pair never showed, and Hansen’s mother called Union County Search and Rescue at 10:11 p.m.

Rescuers found them just before midnight, and the pair reunited with family around 2 a.m.

The father and son started walking toward the last bridge they had gone under. Hansen had lost a shoe and cut up some of the life vest to create temporary footwear.

He said he was happy he picked the life vest he did because it is likely what saved them from drowning in the river.

They had to cross a substantial span of the river, so they assembled a makeshift log bridge. As they neared the bridge, search and rescue team members found them.

Hansen said they were cold, wet and tired by then, and it was a relief to see the team. Search and rescue members provided Hansen with fresh boots, and he and his son changed into dry clothes before attempting to climb up the steep hill to the road. The rescue team then helped them down the river to an easier area to hike up.

Hansen said during the entire ordeal his only real fear or panic was when Louis was in the river. Once they were on land, Hansen said he knew they would get home. Still, he was grateful for the efforts of search and rescue.

Since the incident, Hansen said he has a different relationship with the Grande Ronde River.

“When I look at the water — and I’ve been back and went into the water — it has changed something there,” he said. “Not a fear of my life, but yet there is a fear of my life.”

Hansen said he frequently talks with his son about what happened as it was a traumatic experience for the boy. But, Hansen said, things seem to be OK, and the pair have continued going on adventures outdoors.