It's a major sieve, according to Scott Bowman who has guided and rafted and
kayaked on the Rogue for more than 30 years.  Big boulders and years of
debris, especially ropes and raft frame parts, not to mention occasional
aluminum drift boats, from multiple incidents over many years.   The Picket
Fence is the crux move of the 45+ mile wild section of the Rogue.  Once
you're past the Picket Fence, you can run into or wrap on plenty of rocks,
but you're past the sieves.

Aida Parkinson
Supervisory Environmental Specialist
Redwood National and State Parks

Woman’s Body Recovered From Rogue

Emergency crews from Curry County have removed the body of a California woman from the Rogue River. The remains of 52-year-old Cynthia Lee Vontungeln were dislodged from a cluster of rocks in the Blossom Bar rapids Vontungeln drowned June 27 in a kayak accident. Natural forces loosened her body from the rocks on July 6th. Two BLM employees were rafting the river Saturday and found it the water and covered it with a tarp until emergency workers picked it up.

Vontungeln and 38-year-old Michelle Shillinglaw of Austin, Texas, were part of a large guided kayak party floating the 34-mile section from Grave Creek to Foster Bar. Their inflatable kayak hit a rock and capsized.

Both were wearing lifejackets, but Vontungeln was pinned in between rocks and drowned. Shillinglaw survived the accident.

Posted on 7/7/08 by Bill Jacobs