Rafter rescued, ticketed, after falling into McDonald Creek

A Whitefish rafter was rescued from a closed section of upper McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park. Park officials say at approximately 4:30 p.m. May 6 rangers received a report that a rafter had fallen in the water near Red Rock Point and was stranded on a rock in the middle of the creek. The water was swift and high with runoff.

Rangers responded and the 23-year-old man, whose name was not released, was rescued.

The Flathead County Swift Water Rescue Team also responded to the incident and successfully retrieved the man’s belongings that were located downstream.

The man was cited for boating in a closed area. Upper McDonald Creek, from the motor vehicle bridge across McDonald Creek inlet at the head of Lake McDonald upstream to the Mineral Creek confluence, is closed to all boating and floating for the protection of nesting harlequin ducks.