A group of 23 boy scouts and leaders, from two troops based in Cedar City, Utah, recently had a DIY adventure turn into an emergency situation. The paddling expedition became a rescue for the group when their homemade canoes began sinking shortly after launch into the Green River. According to a report published by the Emery County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) in a Facebook post (which has since been deleted), the scout group launched on July 10 from Green River State Park, Utah, in mostly homemade canoes made with PVC pipes and wrapped in plastic tarp material. The goal was to paddle 67 miles down the Green River, which was running at an unseasonably high level around 12,000 cfs. The multi-day trip typically runs through Labyrinth Canyon to Mineral Bottom near the border of Canyonlands National Park. The Labyrinth Canyon section of the Green River is a remote 45-mile Class I-II flatwater trip which was recently designated by the Dingell Act as part of the National Wild & Scenic Rivers system. The section also borders the newly created 54,600-acre Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness Area to the west.
According to the ECSO narrative, the troubles relating to this “ill-fated canoeing adventure” were discovered when Emery County Sheriff’s Sergeant Mike Vetere received a call from a relative who described a distraught young scout arriving at his farm in need of help. After Vetere arrived at the farm, the young scout explained that he was separated from the other scouts and leaders when his canoe sank and he floated down the river. With the scout, Vetere drove to the town of Green River and retrieved an ECSO rescue boat and proceeded to the boat ramp at Green River State Park. Upon arriving at the state park, Vetere encountered one of the scout leaders. This leader had sunk his homemade canoe as well after floating only a few hundred yards away from the boat ramp. The leader swam to shore and walked back to the launch area. Next, a local resident who lived near the river drove up, carrying three more scouts and a leader who had also left the river, after they experienced “too many canoe problems.”
Sgt. Vetere was joined by Deputy Jeff Newland and Deputy Dylan Keene in launching the rescue boat and heading downriver in hopes of locating the remaining scouts and leaders. Less than a mile downstream, where the river passes around a few mid-channel islands, the rescuers spotted one young scout. He had lost his canoe and was clinging to a tree. The rescue crew convinced the scout, who was fortunately wearing a PFD, to let go and float down to the boat. Shortly below this spot, near the Interstate 70 bridge, the crew encountered the remaining group members. This is the final bridge crossing for 150 miles of river and reservoir–including Labyrinth, Stillwater, and Cataract Canyons–until the Hite Crossing Bridge over northern Lake Powell. As recounted in Sgt. Vetere’s case report, this group included “about 15 scouts, a smaller boy, a couple leaders, and a dog.” The rescue crew docked their boat and off-loaded the homemade canoes of all camping equipment and supplies, so that the scouts and leaders could float the makeshift craft to Crystal Geyser, where road access is available. The boat crew stayed near the group until everyone arrived at Crystal Geyser, where a vehicle could be used for an overland egress of both people and the remaining homemade canoes. In total, the majority of the scout group traveled only four miles before they were rescued, an operation which took about three hours.
In the narrative, Sheriff Greg Funk stated that Sgt. Vetere has a great deal of experience on the Green River, and that Vetere believed such homemade canoes constructed from PVC pipes and plastic tarp material, have “no business being on the river,” especially during high water. The statement by Sheriff Funk furthermore stated it was fortunate that no one was seriously injured or killed. Ultimately, the Emery County Sheriff’s Office deleted the original post when they felt too many comments (it quickly attracted over 1,000 comments, shares, and reactions) turned to mockery of the individuals and organizations involved. In an e-mail, spokesperson Janalee Luke wrote that ECSO removed the Facebook post “due to public comment against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, against the Boy Scouts of America, against the group leaders and against [the] parents.” In his statement, Sheriff Funk reminded people to understand their abilities and to conduct adequate research before recreating on the rivers in Emery County. “We have had numerous river rescues over the years,” wrote Sheriff Funk, specifically listing the Green River, the San Rafael River, and Muddy Creek. “It is fortunate that the canoe problems happened early in this trip where there is access to the river from the banks, rather than father downstream with sheer canyon walls. The Green River is wide, the water is cold, and hypothermia can set in in a matter of minutes.”
— Read more on Paddling Safety, plus more from Canoe & Kayak contributing editor Mike Bezemek, who is the author/photographer of Paddling the John Wesley Powell Route, which covers 1600 miles on the Green and Colorado rivers, including the sections described in this article (excerpt here).
The article was originally published on Canoe & Kayak
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A group of 23 boy scouts and leaders, from two troops based in Cedar City, Utah, recently had a DIY adventure turn into an emergency situation. The paddling expedition became a rescue for the group when their homemade canoes began sinking shortly after launch into the Green River. According to a report published by the Emery County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) in a Facebook post (which has since been deleted), the scout group launched on July 10 from Green River State Park, Utah, in mostly homemade canoes made with PVC pipes and wrapped in plastic tarp material.
The goal was to paddle 67 miles down the Green River, which was running at an unseasonably high level around 12,000 cfs. The multi-day trip typically runs through Labyrinth Canyon to Mineral Bottom near the border of Canyonlands National Park. The Labyrinth Canyon section of the Green River is a remote 45-mile Class I-II flatwater trip which was recently designated by the Dingell Act as part of the National Wild & Scenic Rivers system. The section also borders the newly created 54,600-acre Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness Area to the west.
According to the ECSO narrative, the troubles relating to this “ill-fated canoeing adventure” were discovered when Emery County Sheriff’s Sergeant Mike Vetere received a call from a relative who described a distraught young scout arriving at his farm in need of help.
After Vetere arrived at the farm, the young scout explained that he was separated from the other scouts and leaders when his canoe sank and he floated down the river. With the scout, Vetere drove to the town of Green River and retrieved an ECSO rescue boat and proceeded to the boat ramp at Green River State Park.
Upon arriving at the state park, Vetere encountered one of the scout leaders. This leader had sunk his homemade canoe as well after floating only a few hundred yards away from the boat ramp. The leader swam to shore and walked back to the launch area.
Next, a local resident who lived near the river drove up, carrying three more scouts and a leader who had also left the river, after they experienced “too many canoe problems.”
Sgt. Vetere was joined by Deputy Jeff Newland and Deputy Dylan Keene in launching the rescue boat and heading downriver in hopes of locating the remaining scouts and leaders. Less than a mile downstream, where the river passes around a few mid-channel islands, the rescuers spotted one young scout. He had lost his canoe and was clinging to a tree. The rescue crew convinced the scout, who was fortunately wearing a PFD, to let go and float down to the boat.
Shortly below this spot, near the Interstate 70 bridge, the crew encountered the remaining group members. This is the final bridge crossing for 150 miles of river and reservoir–including Labyrinth, Stillwater, and Cataract Canyons–until the Hite Crossing Bridge over northern Lake Powell. As recounted in Sgt. Vetere’s case report, this group included “about 15 scouts, a smaller boy, a couple leaders, and a dog.” The rescue crew docked their boat and off-loaded the homemade canoes of all camping equipment and supplies, so that the scouts and leaders could float the makeshift craft to Crystal Geyser, where road access is available.
The boat crew stayed near the group until everyone arrived at Crystal Geyser, where a vehicle could be used for an overland egress of both people and the remaining homemade canoes. In total, the majority of the scout group traveled only four miles before they were rescued, an operation which took about three hours.
In the narrative, Sheriff Greg Funk stated that Sgt. Vetere has a great deal of experience on the Green River, and that Vetere believed such homemade canoes constructed from PVC pipes and plastic tarp material, have “no business being on the river,” especially during high water. The statement by Sheriff Funk furthermore stated it was fortunate that no one was seriously injured or killed.
Ultimately, the Emery County Sheriff’s Office deleted the original post when they felt too many comments (it quickly attracted over 1,000 comments, shares, and reactions) turned to mockery of the individuals and organizations involved. In an e-mail, spokesperson Janalee Luke wrote that ECSO removed the Facebook post “due to public comment against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, against the Boy Scouts of America, against the group leaders and against [the] parents.”
In his statement, Sheriff Funk reminded people to understand their abilities and to conduct adequate research before recreating on the rivers in Emery County. “We have had numerous river rescues over the years,” wrote Sheriff Funk, specifically listing the Green River, the San Rafael River, and Muddy Creek. “It is fortunate that the canoe problems happened early in this trip where there is access to the river from the banks, rather than father downstream with sheer canyon walls. The Green River is wide, the water is cold, and hypothermia can set in in a matter of minutes.”
— Read more on Paddling Safety, plus more from Canoe & Kayak contributing editor Mike Bezemek, who is the author/photographer of Paddling the John Wesley Powell Route, which covers 1600 miles on the Green and Colorado rivers, including the sections described in this article (excerpt here).
The article was originally published on Canoe & Kayak
For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!
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