Rangers Rescue Stranded Father And Son From Snake River

Rangers, Teton interagency fire personnel and emergency medical personnel rescued a father and son on the night of July 10th after they became separated from their small boat and stranded on a logjam in the swift-flowing Snake River. Forty-year-old Byron Phames and his 15-year-old son were floating down the river in a petite, swimming pool-style inflatable raft when it partially deflated, spilling them into the water. The Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received a report of the incident at 5:55 p.m. from the wife and mother of the pair. At 6:40 p.m., park rescue personnel located the two hanging onto a logjam on the right side of the Bourbon Street channel about a mile and a half south of Moose Bridge. Rangers used a technical river rescue technique to reach the stranded men, positioning a rescuer in the current to reach each of the floaters, one at a time. While both men experienced early stages of hypothermia, they were not seriously injured and refused medical treatment. A total of 21 park personnel and Teton interagency firefighters responded to this incident. Investigators determined what had happened. Phames and his son had launched their inflatable dinghy from Deadman’s Bar — one of four river launch areas in the park — at approximately 2:30 p.m. They intended to float all the way to the Wilson Bridge, about 25 river miles away. A river guide for a park concessionaire saw the pair getting ready to launch and questioned their preparedness. The guide noticed that the two did not have any oars or paddles and cautioned them that they needed something to help them navigate their small craft. Phames then picked up two sticks to serve as makeshift paddles for his float trip. Besides lacking oars, the Phameses did not have life jackets with them. They floated several miles downstream without incident until the side of their inflatable dinghy got punctured, leaving only the floor chamber inflated. They were able to float past Menor’s Ferry and attempted to pull out at the Moose landing, but could not reach the riverbank using the makeshift stick paddles and continued floating beyond the Moose Bridge. About a mile and a half south of Moose, the river forks and the floaters took the left channel known as Bourbon Street. At this point, their inflatable dinghy became lodged against an obstruction, causing both men to fall into the river. Byron was trapped in a tangle of branches on a submerged tree and pinned underwater. River users call this river debris a “strainer.” Strainers are a particularly risky hazard for boaters because they can trap people against the branches and cause them to become submerged in the current. Fortunately, Phames was able to free himself from the strainer and make his way upstream to where his son was clinging to a logjam. Once he reached his son, Phames was able to call his wife from his cell phone; she then called for help. Two citations were issued to Phames – one for not having life jackets and the other for failure to obtain a park boat permit.