Dan Wagner, 45, Pocatello , ID died on the Middle Fork of the Salmon on May 22, 1997. The flow that day was 7.7 feet, a level that Idaho paddler Doug Purl describes as "a screaming toboggan ride . . .  a half stroke from disaster."  Needless to say, the water was extremely cold.

Wagner’s “experienced and capable” group put on at Marsh Creek because the road to Dagger Falls was snowed in. A cataraft with an oarsman and passenger flipped in Murphy’s Hole, 1.2 miles below Dagger Falls . The Oarsman was rescued, and two other boats headed downstream to recover the swimmer. Velvet Falls , was a wall-to-wall reversal with a ferocious backwash. There is a very narrow break on river left at this level. One of the chase boats flipped while running the right side of Velvet Falls . In the confusion they lost sight of the swimmer, who floated on. His body was spotted two hours later by a man sitting on the deck at Pistol Creek. He radioed the Ranger at Indian Creek Airstrip; the Ranger and a pilot were able to pull the body out an hour later. This is a full day’s travel at normal water levels! The flipped cataraft was found around Dolly Lake (a huge eddy) at mile 19 in very bad shape. The group spent the night here without knowing anything about the fate of their friend.

SOURCE: Vince Thompson, Vince’s Idaho Whitewater Page, and Douglas Purl,  posting to rec.boats.paddle

ANALYSIS: (Walbridge) .

1. The victim had the right clothing for a cold water trip, but he floated in extremely cold water for three hours before reaching Indian Creek. He probably died of hypothermia, although the long difficult swim certainly contributed to his death.

2.When chasing people, especially in high water, be careful not to get into trouble yourself. If you encounter trouble you may find yourself “out there” more than you might like!