Accident Database

The date of this incident was June 14, 2023. 

We were finding ways to get back in the flow after portaging Jarbidge Falls (class V?--marginally runnable at low water).  We saw the sieve in the bony runout below the rapid, and decided that we could avoid it.  It was a log (or more) stuck on a pile of rocks with a strong jet of current sucking into it.  We wanted to reduce the length of the portage by getting back in our boats to run the bony runout.  We set good safety, with 2 boaters with ropes on shore near the sieve and 2 boaters positioned downstream to pick up pieces.  These two had run it, though neither had executed their plan A line.

Bill was the least experienced member of the group.  To be clear, he was NOT inexperienced.  He had been kayaking for years and had self-supported before, but his boat was stern heavy and he used his considerable strength to make the lines.  The boater ahead of him tried a different line and made it look bad.  Bill tried the line that the first two had done and blew it.  He ended up stuck on a rock immediately above the sieve.  When he got unstuck, he thought he could paddle away from the sieve, but it sucked him in stern first. 

His stern was under the log and he was sinking under it as the first rope hit him. The oldest paddler in the group was the one who made that accurate throw.  Another paddler dropped her throwbag and joined to haul on that rope with all their might.  They thought they were pulling on Bill.  Bill says the throwbag got hung up on the log, and that the tension provided by the two paddlers pulling made it into a static line that he could use to pull himself forward and out of the sieve.  He let go of his paddle in the effort and it went downstream where it was recovered by the paddler who'd run ahead of him.  Bill was unable to pull himself completely free of the sieve, and was in the surging, boiling water above the sieve, holding onto the line tensioned by two paddlers on shore.  This situation lasted a minute or more.

Bill's brother was also on river left, and he saw what needed to be done.  He picked up a dropped throwbag and nailed his brother with it.  He hit his brother with the rope from a different angle, and Bill then had one rope in each hand.  He had to switch from holding the tensioned rope for stability, to holding the one his brother had thrown.  Once he had hold of the new rope his brother gave a great heave, falling backwards into the poison ivy and pulling his brother away from the sieve.  This part moved really fast.  Bill kicked free of his boat which went into and through the sieve.  Bill glommed onto a rock while his kayak went downstream full of camping gear.  Getting him from there to shore was no big deal.  His boat was recovered by one of the downstream boaters who was able to jump in, grab the boat, and grab a willow.  The throwbag which had been hung on the log was also recovered in its entirety.

The remainder of the group portaged to a place below the sieve without question.  It was not worth the risk.

In the end there were no losses because we were both lucky and good.  We saw the hazard and set safety in the right places.  Bill is very fit and was able to hold himself in a tenuous situation.  Both rope throws hit their mark.  Every boater in the team played an important part in the rescue and recovery, and we were glad for our somewhat large group of 7.  A smaller group would not have been able to do what we did.

If we were to run an experiment with this situation several times, there is no way that it would go this well every time. One of those surges could have flipped him or pulled him into the sieve.  He could have gone through the sieve, or gotten stuck there.  A rope throw could have missed.  A different, weaker person could have ended up in that situation and been unable to hold steady until the second rope came.  The paddle and boat might not have been recovered, leaving the group down by one sleeping bag, tent and pad with 40 miles to paddle out of a large wilderness.  We know we were lucky.