Rafter goes missing on Priest River

SANDPOINT — A Washington state man is feared drowned after his raft overturned on the runoff-swollen Priest River on Wednesday afternoon.

The 43-year-old Spokane resident’s name is being withheld pending notification of his family.

The man was part of two-raft party that put in below Priest Lake’s Outlet Bay Dam, according to Ted Tisdell of Priest Lake Search & Rescue.

But the two occupants of the first raft lost sight of their companion, who was paddling solo in his own raft, after they launched.

The first raft made it through Binarch Rapids at about 3 p.m.

“They turned around, looked back and saw their friend’s raft upside down coming down the river at a good speed. They never got sight of him,” said Tisdell.

The man was reportedly not wearing a life jacket, had minimal river-running experience and was in a dime store-quality inflatable vessel.

It’s not clear if the raft overturned in or upstream of the rapids. Binarch Rapids are rated as Class III in the whitewater classification system. Class III rapids have high irregular waves and narrow passages that typically require precise maneuvering.

Moreover, near-record precipitation and cooler temperatures in June has the river running high and fast.

The river’s flow on Wednesday was gauged at 4,890 cubic feet per second, according to data posted online to the U.S. Geological Survey. The flow is rated as well above normal, USGS said.

Priest Lake Search & Rescue conducted ground and aerial searches on Wednesday, but found no sign of the man.

“We’ve done as much as we can on the ground. The river is so high that it’s up into the brush, so it’s hard to get anybody down to the river and look,” Tisdell said.

A pilot who conducted the aerial search had a good visual of the river between Outlet Bay and McAbee Falls, but Tisdell said turbidity associated with the high flow hampered visibility into the water.

By Thursday afternoon, search-and-rescue volunteers in kayaks were making their second run of the river.

“He’s still missing and we’re still looking,” Tisdell said.

The last drowning on the Priest River occurred in May 2009, when a Spirit Lake man fell into fast-moving water while camping.