Ok, there were two boats on the lower drift Friday, one lost an oar and nearly capsized the boat in the first rapid. The second got hung up and had to drag across the first rapid. They were kindly warned about the next couple rapids and seemed uninterested. We pulled out late and had not seen either of these boats the rest of the day. I sincerely hope they made it out ok. Anyone have to rescue or row someone out on Friday? ........Please people, be aware that the stories about this river (especially at 2 boards) are true. You better have your best stuff going on to run this river.

Amen Brother! We heard that clown in the second boat coming down the wrong side of the river. I swear he must have hit every rock there was.

Here's a fella from a couple years back who demonstrated how not to negotiate the hatchery drift.



CSI-Sol Duc: The most common accident on this river occurs when someone goes bow-up on a rock in whitewater and then takes water over the stern or side. Once water breaches the gunnel, it's all over but the crying.

If this happens the only thing you can do is dig-in and swing the boat stern downstream immediately, and hope you don't stick the back on a second rock in the process. This is what happened to some friends of mine above Edwards Bar last February, and from the looks of it I'd say this is what happened in the above instance, too.