A 47-year-old California man is the latest victim in a string of drownings across Colorado rivers as heavy snow melt causes fast-moving water in areas popular for rafting.
This latest death happened Saturday in Triplet Falls on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument. The rafter was part of a group that included family and friends on a commercial rafting trip, according to the National Park Service.
A text message about the accident was received at 12:40 p.m. with a report that a boat flipped and rendered a man unconscious. The rafter was underwater for about 10 minutes. CPR was performed for approximately 90 minutes.
Emergency responders arrived on the scene and declared the man dead.
Triplet Falls, which has a Class III difficulty rating, is located along the Green River in a remote portion of Dinosaur National Monument about 12 river miles from the monument’s northern boundary near Gates of Lodore.
The area is surrounded by steep canyon walls rising 1,200 feet and higher above the river. There is no cell service in that portion of the monument. River flow was approximately 2,350 cubic feet per second at the time of the incident.
The man’s identity has not been released.