A number of inexperienced paddlers met death over the Fourth of July weekend. On July 3rd, Jason Smith, 27, drowned in the Class V+ rapids of Tumwater Canyon on Washington’s Wenatchee River. Mr. Smith was paddling solo; his wife was watching from the road when he flipped in Chaos Rapid and disappeared. Rescuers found his body the next day, floating in a pool between the big drops. AW’s Brian Behle, who lives in nearby Leavenworth, says that this sort of thing happens every year. Indeed, there was a second drowning in the area during August!
