Big Thicket National Preserve (TX) Rangers Rescue Three Canoeists Village Creek was running at almost three times its normal flow for this time of year on Saturday, May 17th, when three canoeists capsized in the rushing creek. Rangers Johnny Stafford and Josh Clemons were checking the take-out point at the 96 bridge around 7 p.m. when a canoe livery advised them that one of their rental canoes with three persons on board was more than two hours overdue. Stafford and Clemons immediately launched their patrol boat and headed upstream in search of the missing paddlers. At about 7:30 p.m. and a mile-and-a-half upstream of the 96 bridge, the rangers observed a capsized canoe, paddles and an ice chest floating downstream. About 10 minutes later, the rangers found two men and a woman clinging to a large log in the middle of the fast-moving stream. One of the men and the woman were wearing their life jackets, but the second man had lost his and the three were awaiting rescue. The rangers maneuvered their patrol boat into place and plucked the three from the log. On the way back to the takeout point, the rangers retrieved the group’s canoe and gear for them. Aside from being slightly hypothermic, the three were fine and did not require medical treatment. [Submitted by Keith Flanery, District Ranger] TEXT ATTACHMENTS The above information was cut&pasted from The Morning Report from the National Park Service on 05/22/08.