I first want to clarify that I was not present for the Initial incident with Mr. Erwin's party, I work for Frontier River Guides(Fly-fishing company) that floats the Kisaralik River with inflatable rafts. We were floating(Four 13' rafts, 4 Guides, 8 Guests) a trip on the Kisaralik between 7/15/24-7/23/24, which overlapped with Mr. Erwin's party that was involved in the accident.
Details of Incident from FRG group perspective
On 7/19/24 we arrived at the river right portage site for the "Upper Falls" on the Kisaralik river. When I walked the first raft along the right bank down to the staging area for portaging the "Upper Falls" I noticed gear from another group staged at the spot. This led me to believe the Erwin party was below us and out of sight on the beach(river right) below "Lower Falls". It is common practice on the Kisaralik Upper and Lower Falls(Approximately 250' between each feature) to utilize the portage trail on river right to bypass having to run the falls. I then returned upriver and helped line the other rafts and clients to the Upper Falls staging area. Once the group was all consolidated and rafts tied off, I walked down to the Lower Falls beach to see how far along the Erwin party was with portaging and launching from the beach. However, neither the Erwin party or any of their gear was on the beach. This felt strange so I returned back to our group and spoke with the other three guides(Marty Decker-FRG Owner, Hunter Nida-Guide, Emily Decker-Guide) about the Erwin party not being at the beach. We had no other information to go off of so we had assumed they had either accidentally left gear behind or they were potentially staging gear for another party floating the river through Papa Bear Adventures(Outfitter business). We left their gear and proceeded to portage our boats, gear, and people from Upper Falls to the beach below Lower Falls. Our group remained at the beach fishing/eating lunch while the guides were re-loading boats.
After a late lunch/break, we launched off around 3:45 PM-4:00 PM from the beach and immediately saw a cooler bobbing on the river right no more than 150' below Lower Falls beach. Our group then proceeded to spot various small items floating in the river along banks and eddy lines. We assumed that perhaps one of the Erwin party's rafts flipped when lining, portaging or running the falls. Knowing that it's not uncommon to lose gear when portaging/running rapids we decided to pick up any gear we saw on the chance we crossed paths with their group again. At approximately 4:40 PM our group came across one of the Erwin party's rafts upside down on a gravel bar mid-river/river right around 1 river-mile below the Lower Falls beach. No member of the Erwin party was there with the raft, our group called out for a few minutes while we consolidated and packed what gear we could onto our rafts. We then semi-deflated the raft due to fear of over-expansion due to the heat and anchored it off to a solid tree on the river right bank in the shallows. Realizing now that there had been an incident where the Erwin party flipped and lost one raft/gear we decided to push down river and collect any of their gear we found floating in the river while we made our way down to them. We were unaware still at this point exactly what happened so we continued checking everything we saw floating in the event it was a person and not just gear.
At approximately 5:15PM came across a T-shirt draped over a makeshift pole stand on the river right some 3-4 miles downriver from Lower Falls. The T-shirt had a message sharpied on it that read(HELP!! CALL PAPA BEAR ADVENTURES SEND HELP ASAP WORLEY GROUP WENT OVER FALLS WE'RE HURT TRYING TO FIND MORE LAND DOWN RIVER), Marty Decker(FRG Owner/Guide) then pulled out his satellite phone and contacted Justin(Papa Bear Adventures Owner/Pilot). Marty filled Justin in on the situation which is first he had heard of it, Marty then instructed Justin to fly from Bethel and circle the river above other group should he get there before us. At 5:30 PM We re-loaded our guests in the rafts and pushed on downriver to find Erwin Party, along the way we checked every bit of gear we found floating in the river. Around 7 river miles downriver from the Lower falls we came across the Erwin party on a gravel bar river left in a braided section of the river. Immediately upon arrival one of the members of their party disclosed that Larry Erwin had drowned at the falls, his body was securely wrapped in sleeping bag and tarp on the back of a raft beached along small slough separating gravel bar from tundra on river left. I walked with a party member to the back of the raft and asked him if anyone else had any major/life-threatening injuries. He was obviously very shaken up and disclosed he believed everyone else just had minor injuries along with suspected hypothermia for other party members.
At this point Hunter, Emily and I began checking in on Erwin party members to verify their medical status and to address any outstanding issues,injuries they may have. There were no other major injuries, some group members had signs of hypothermia/exhaustion so we made them a fire and food from their supplies and fed the group. Marty used the satellite phone to contact Alaska State Troopers and to fill them in on the incident. I believe at the time there were no State Trooper helicopters in Bethel due to their helicopter being in Fairbanks. Justin from Papa Bear Adventures was able to land his plane on the river right in a small pond/lake across from the beach we were on. I rowed across so Justin would not have to ford the river to reach us. We then collectively hashed out a plane for Justin to return with other gear should the group have to spend another night on the river.
While this was going on Marty was contacting AKRCC(Alaska Rescue Coordination Center) to see if there were other options for an evacuation for Erwin party. The AKRCC assured us they would be sending a Blackhawk helicopter to evacuate the group at their earliest opportunity. Justin left some supplies along with a satellite phone for Erwin party to use to contact AKRCC, Papa Bear Adventures and any other pertinent people.
While Justin was shuttled back to his plane across the river we began to check with several group members to recall the incident if they could so we could have a better idea of what happened other than the previously mentioned flip. Their collective story that I heard with varying details was that Larry Erwin's boat was the first to approach Upper Falls, due to the higher/faster water they were unable to eddy out and portage in time and instead bounced off a rock back into main current and went over Upper Falls. Their boat flipped when going through a rock chute of falls and all three raft members came out of the boat. They then proceeded to float down and go over the much larger lower falls. There is a large circulating hydraulic feature at the bottom and it is my belief that Larry Erwin was trapped in the feature. According to one member's account from the raft, none of the members were wearing PFDs during the incident. One of the raft members David mentioned that at the bottom of the falls he was holding onto Larry's body in the river. The other rafts in their group proceeded to eddy out and portage as fast as they could with as much gear as they could(which is why we found gear of theirs still at top portage), this process allegedly took over an hour or more. It is unclear to me how far down the river David was from the falls when he held onto Larry. One member mentioned that David was located at the raft we had found flipped over 1 mile below falls when the other rafts from their group found him. After hearing all accounts of the story from different group members we briefed our group on our plan and then returned to finalize details with the Erwin party about rescue/recovery.
After the rescue/recovery effort was underway we instructed their group to consolidate their gear/along with gear we returned to them out of the way and to clear a large area for the blackhawk helicopter to land. We instructed them to begin deflating or moving rafts out of the rotor wash area for the helicopter to safely land and not lose more gear. We then made sure they were all set with any food, layers, instructions or gear they needed. Our group then got back on the river and made our way to the next camp for the evening. The final blackhawk flight departed from evac site around 12:43 AM 7/20/24.
I hope this all helps, sorry for the long winded response. Just wanted to give you as many pertinent details to the situation as I could. Please feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Sean Johnson
Frontier River Guides
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2024/07/20/texas-man-dies-during-river-rafting-trip-in-western-alaska/
Texas man dies during river rafting trip in Western Alaska
A Texas man died Friday during a remote rafting trip on a river in Western Alaska, state troopers said.
The man, 53-year-old Dallas resident Larry Erwin, was part of a group rafting on a river about 53 miles southeast of Bethel, Alaska State Troopers said in an online report. Troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain said Saturday that the group reportedly included seven people — Erwin among them — along with 10 boats, and they were a couple days into their rafting trip.
On Friday, Erwin lost control of his inflatable raft and “went over a waterfall,” sending him out of the boat and into the water, troopers said.
He “was pulled to shore and did not have any signs of life,” according to troopers.
Troopers said they were notified of the fatality around 6:21 p.m. Friday.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center responded to the site from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage and took Erwin’s body and members of the group to Bethel in a helicopter, troopers said. The Rescue Coordination Center made multiple trips by helicopter to bring all the group members to Bethel, DeSpain said.
Erwin’s next of kin have been notified along with the State Medical Examiner Office, troopers said.
Additional information, including which river the incident occurred on, wasn’t immediately available from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center.
Kisaralik River Upper Falls is a Class IV double drop about 10' high, two steps. There is a Class III+ sneak on the right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-cZi961K_Y
AW's Kisaralik River Description
N 60.20.093 W 159.24.252 0 Kisaralik Lake
The river is a small clear flowing stream as it leaves Kisaralik Lake. It flows through a tundra covered basin for the next 20 miles with shallow rocky riffles. The Kuskokwim mountains rise to 2700 feet above the river basin. Fishing in this section is slow but Dolly, Arctic Char, and Grayling can be picked up with egg patterns drifted under holding Salmon. DollyÂs and Lake Trout can be taken in the lake.
N 60.19.800 W 159.31.300 4 Gold Greek
Increased flow makes floating easier. Swift flow with rocky riffles to North Fork. Excellent fishing at the Confluence.
N 60.23.143 W 159.41.398 18 North Fork
Large pool, increases flow dramatically. Good camping here.
22 Entering Kilbuck Mountains
Start of 20 miles of swift flow through rock gardens as river cuts through Kilbuck mountains. Some of these rapids require quick maneuvering. These rapids are mostly class II but some approach Class III then class IV 50 yards below. Scout on left and portage right. Nest 12 miles are class II. Rainbows start to show.
N 60.21.777 W 159.56.392 24 Upper Falls
Class III then class IV 50 yards below Scout on left and portage right. Nest 12 miles are class II. Rainbows start to show.
N 60.24.680 W 159.58.380 26 Quicksilver Creek Large pool.
N 60.28.720 W 160.09.360 36 S-turn Class III - take extreme right.
N 60.29.930 W 160.09.980 40 Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is class III but the next 40 miles are class I, watch for sweepers. Rainbow fishing below rapids excellent.
N 60.33.319 W 160.20.655 46 Quartz Creek
River leaves Kilbuck mountains and begins to braid. Rainbow fishing continues its excellence if water levels aren't to high. In mid to late August, Silvers begin to ...
