Michigan man, 30, drowns while kayaking in Florence Co.
Associated Press - June 16, 2008 12:45 PM ET
FLORENCE, Wis. (AP) - The Florence County Sheriff's Department says a 30-year-old Michigan man is dead after drowning while kayaking. Authorities say they received a report on Saturday from Troy D. Mikula's spouse that he hadn't returned from a kayaking trip. They say the Crystal Falls man was going to kayak a five-mile stretch of the Popple River that has three waterfalls.
Authorities say they found his pickup truck where he left it. An aircraft was used to fly the river and that's where they found his kayak below Little Bull Falls. Authorities say they found his body near the kayak. An autopsy conducted Sunday found that he drowned.
It's never good to hear of a death on a river........
The link in the email below doesn't provide much info, and the post suggests that he was paddling alone.
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?04063700 shows that the water level was about 335 cfs - a bit higher than the average ~135 cfs for Saturday's date, as a result of 1.5 inches of rain that had just fallen.
Little Bull Falls contains a big hole below a four foot drop, which Mike Svob's book describes as "impressive" and which Whitewater-Quietwater describes as "deceptively difficult".
For those not familiar with the river, the Popple has some nice rapids and scenery that can't be beat, but also lots of flatwater, and not-easy/simple takeout choices, especially in the early spring.
Erik
