Woman drowns in North Fork floating accident

A 51-year-old Idaho woman drowned in the North Fork of the Flathead River on Sept. 21 after the double-seated inflatable kayak she and her husband were riding in got caught in river debris.

The woman and her 59-year-old husband were floating about two miles south of Polebridge in the Home Ranch Bottoms area when the accident occurred shortly after 1 p.m., Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said. Both were wearing life preservers, he said.

"They got sideways and got into a root ball," Curry said. "The kayak folded and then inverted. It rolled over. The husband was able to get out and the wife was not able to get out and she drowned."

While the North Fork is generally running slower at a late-season level, the accident occurred on a narrower stretch where the river was about four foot deep and running much harder.

"The hydraulic pressure and the current were pretty fast there and held the kayak in place on the root ball," he said.

The man walked to the North Fork Road and flagged down a vehicle for help. Glacier National Park rangers, Flathead County sheriff's deputies, the sheriff's dive team, North Valley Search and Rescue and Three Rivers Ambulance all responded to the scene.

"Both rangers and members of the dive team entered the water and were able to recover her body and also got the kayak out of there," Curry said.