GRANGEVILLE — A 56-year-old Sun Valley man drowned Monday during a kayaking accident in the Fall Creek area on the Salmon River, according to a news release from the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office.
James Grossman was retrieved from the area by Two Bear Air from Montana. The accident was reported to the sheriff’s office after an SOS call from a Garmin inReach device was detected by the International Emergency Response Coordination Center, the news release said.
Fall Creek is a tributary to the Salmon River within the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness Area. Flowing north, it enters the river between Mackay Bar and Whitewater Ranch.
Because the location of the accident was not accessible by road, the helicopter agency was contacted. The sheriff’s office notified Grossman’s family and thanked the rescue agencies and Joni and Buck Dewey, the owners of Mackay Bar Outfitters, for the assistance.
The river was flowing at about 9,800 cubic feet per second Monday, as measured at a gauge near Shoup well upstream of the accident and about 54,000 cfs at the White Bird gauge well downstream of the accident.
