There is another root ball/strainer complex just below this one that we ran on river left after scouting.
There may be a portage about mile 14 down from the Grape Vine put-in a little way above where there was a hot springs on river left. That spring is totally covered up now. This is a tree all the way across the channel with a small sneak route on the right at our flows. Location of the March 27 fatality.
At about mile 20 ¼ or 0.8 miles below Sapillo Creek there is an area with lots of strainers which should be scouted on river right. We scouted and ran through narrow passages on a bend to the left
A short distance below this on a long straightaway there is a tree across the channel which we snuck by on river right but it should be scouted. Yes
Where Cow Canyon comes in on river right there is a rapid we called Fence or Cable Rapid as there used to be a fence there but now only a cable exists. There is an aluminum canoe standing vertically in the trees on the river right. The run used to be on river right down a steep drop next to the cliff but that has become very shallow and rocky. You should scout this one on the river left. Our boats made it through the right side but got hung up several times. At 400 cfs, this rapid has five channels. The entrance to the old river right run is highly obstructed by boulders. We ran down the leftmost channel and then lined downstream drop into the main river channel after cutting out some wood. We were unable to get from river left to the river right channel to scout it.
Somewhere below the water fall that falls into the river on a right turn there is a tree across the channel that needs to be scouted. At our flows we were able to run it by ducking under some of the branches on the left side. We had to cut out some branches to make it possible for us. We were able to line.
A short distance below this there was another tree across the river which we were able to get by on river left but this should be scouted as well. This is now a mandatory portage. The portage is short. About 40 feet.
Below Turkey Creek and just above the Brock Canyon takeout the is a large root ball in the channel which we ran on the right side of the root ball. This is a nasty place with the water coming off the root ball forcing you into heavy brush on the right, a good place for a flip if you aren’t careful. This is a nasty place! Two of our group portaged. We sawed out some wood out of the current below the drop so that three could run it.
We took out at Brock Canyon, but you need a high clearance vehicle because of several washouts on the road. The road was maintained March 29 by a bulldozer. It is still very rough and requires an hour to get to the pavement.
The takeout below Mogollon Creek had a gate locked preventing access to the river so if you plan on using that takeout you need to check with the forest service. The word is the Wild Upper Gila Box below Brock Canyon to the Mogollon Box takeout is obstructed. The Mogollon Box takeout is now officially open.
Robert Southwick"
one body found April 15th
Fatality on the Gila River
Published: 28 March 2023
By Roger Lanse, Grant County Beat
Monday afternoon, Mar. 27, 2023, around 2 p.m. five individuals in a raft capsized in the Gila River about 10 miles south of the Grapevine Campground. According to Search and Rescue Coordinator Mark Levesque, one person drowned and four were rescued by helicopter. The condition of those four are unknown at this time.
The Beat is reaching out to other agencies investigating the accident and more information will be reported as it is received.
UPDATE:
Five adult men of "near, or at, retirement age," from Lubbock, Texas, according to Laurie Wlosinski, Grant County Search and Rescue/New Mexico State Police Incident Commander of this Mission, entered the Gila River at the Grapevine Campground planning a multi-day float trip ending downstream at the Mogollon Box on Tuesday, Mar. 28, and then returning home. One man was in a canoe, one each in two kayaks, and two in a raft.
UPDATE-2: According to New Mexico State Police staff, the ages of the four surviving men were 58, 60, 61, and 63. The man pronounced deceased by an Office of Medical Investigation official was Tregg Granato, 55.
The group, with the canoe leading, encountered a fallen tree across the river some 10 miles downstream at the bottom of an estimated 200' deep canyon, Wlosinski said. The canoe overturned and that man was swept underwater and drowned. The other four were able to make it to shore and using an emergency communicator device they had with them sent out an SOS ultimately notifying the NMSP.
Wlosinski told the Beat other GCS&R team members were paged out but were stymied by the lack of ground access to the pinned down men. An NMSP helicopter was immediately dispatched from Santa Fe. The helicopter was used to hoist two of the men out of the canyon, return to Grant County Airport, return for two more, and return again for the deceased.
The survivors were checked out by Gila Regional Medical Center EMS personnel at the airport, none having serious physical injuries. Their families were notified.
Because the incident occurred within a wilderness area, the U.S. Forest Service was advised and that agency