A stretch on the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park where a commercial raft flipped over the weekend called “the Black Hole” was aptly named and is a truly gnarly stretch to navigate, a river guide said.
Fortunately, nobody drowned during the river rafting mishap late Saturday, but eight of the rafters were stranded overnight.
The raft probably flipped because it slammed broadside into one of the huge tree snags in the Black Hole section, Michael Dowda, who runs operations for Lewis and Clark River Expeditions, told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
“There’s five to seven huge, porcupine-looking monster trees there. I would say 80-foot trees with 20-foot root balls sticking out,” he said.
It’s named the Black Hole because when the stretch first formed several years ago, it went right though what was essentially a flooded forest.
“Even on a bright, sunny day, it would turn dark going into that section, because you were getting into this dark canopy of trees,” Dowda said.
“It’s opened up more now, but the debris is still in the river there, the log jams and such,” he added.
Rafters Stranded Overnight
The situation late Saturday was dire after the raft flipped at about 7:30 p.m., according to a statement issued by Grand Teton Chief of Staff Jeremy Barnum.
Eight people, including a guide, were trapped in the river at the Black Hole, which is near the Bar BC Ranch north of Moose.
Three people managed to reach an island in the river and were picked up by another raft.
“Grand Teton National Park rangers responded to the scene where the remaining passengers were still stranded in the river,” according to Branum. “Two individuals were partially submerged in the river for several hours, straddling a log. Rangers were able to reach them by boat and bring them to shore. Both were transported to St. John’s Hospital in Jackson. They were hypothermic and one individual had suffered a head injury.”
The last three people were perched on the flipped raft, and rescuers could not reach them before nightfall. Rangers stayed nearby on an island overnight and the rescue resumed at about 5 a.m. Sunday.
“Rangers were able to reach the remaining individuals with the assistance of Teton County Search and Rescue personnel and rescue helicopter. The individuals were short-hauled via helicopter to shore. All three were moderately hypothermic, treated on site and did not need further medical care,” Barnum stated.
The River Is Always Changing
Upstream from the Black Hole the river is “a single channel” running through a canyon, Dowda said.
But then it broadens out into a stretch with multiple “braided channels” he said. Particularly this time of year, when runoff swells the river, it can be dangerous and tricky to navigate.
“Even in a lower-water situation, it’s still a technical stretch. And this time of year, there’s just water going everywhere,” he said.
And just because guides might have been through there before, they can’t take for granted that they know what they’re getting into when they enter the Black Hole zone.
“Everything’s moving around. Trees move, log jams move, everything shifts,” Dowda said. “The river creates its own path of least resistance and we can’t change that.”
Used To Be ‘The Maze’
The Black Hole was formed in 2017 after a major shift in the river’s channel. It shifted the current away from a place called “The Maze,” also aptly named.
“That’s exactly what it was,” Dowda said. “Sometimes there wasn’t a way out of The Maze. You could get down into a channel and be working your way through, and then come to a place where your just couldn’t get out.”
He added that everyone’s relieved that nobody drowned during the emergency late Saturday and early Sunday.
But it’s brought the inherent dangers of the Black Hole stretch, and river rafting in general, back into focus, he said, adding that there was a fresh round of safety meetings before guides headed out Monday.
“This affected the whole river-rafting community, not just one company,” he said.
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
