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 another posting from Idahowhitewater yahoo group New
- Forum: BoaterTalk
Re:  Deaths on the Marsh Creek section in Idaho? Mothra New
Date: May 28 2003, 15:45 GMT
From: Sid
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The article:
RAFT MISHAPS CLAIM 2 LIVES
By Gina Knudson
Post Register
SALMON - Rising waters and heavy debris may have contributed to two separate rafting incidents near the Middle Fork of the Salmon River over Memorial Day weekend.
Matthew Bartley of Hamilton, Mont., and Vaughn Jones, who is believed to reside in Idaho and in Arizona, are suspected to have drowned on Marsh Creek, a tributary that runs into the Middle Fork.
Both men were boating with private parties and were not on professionally guided trips.
The accidents happened Sunday and many of the details are not known. The boating parties are still on the river.
Gary Moser, former owner of Salmon's Idaho Adventures, said Matt Bartley guided trips for his company.
"He was an extremely experienced boater. He guided for us for 11 years," said Moser.
Moser said boaters on the river at the same time as the Montana party indicate that Bartley was manning oars when the raft, which also carried one passenger and some gear, was swept into a logjam on Marsh Creek. Only the passenger made it out.
The circumstances surrounding Jones' drowning are not clear.
Hopi Salomon of Idaho Falls and his fellow boaters had successfully run Marsh Creek on Saturday, the day before Jones and Bartley ran into trouble. Salomon said his group had to cut a log out of the creek in order to pass safely.
"Marsh Creek is a small stream. It's hard to see around corners - it's brushy," said John Bryant, an experienced boater who provides shuttle service and gear rental to boaters from his business in Salmon. Bryant saw Marsh Creek over the weekend.
"There were a lot of trees moving," he said. Over the winter there are avalanches that bring down trees, and when the water starts moving it just pulls them right along."
The gauge at the Middle Fork Lodge read 3,840 cubic feet per second and 4.35 feet Thursday. Temperatures in the 90s and rain accelerated the spring runoff, and by Monday the same gauge showed 9,550 cubic feet per second and 6.78 feet.
The Idaho Army National Guard assisted in the aerial search and rescue using a Black Hawk helicopter. Lt. Col Tim Marsano said those efforts will not continue because they no longer consider rescue a possibility.
Ground efforts by the Custer County Sheriff's Office and Custer County Search and Rescue also have been halted because too much snow remains along much of the search area.
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