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Thread: Flash Flood deaths in Escalante
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09-11-2008, 09:23 AM #1
Flash Flood deaths in Escalante
California couple drowns in slot canyon flood
September 11th, 2008 @ 9:54am
ESCALANTE, Utah (AP) -- Garfield County officials say a California couple drowned after being caught in a flash flood while hiking in a slot canyon.
Gordon and Kathy Chapple of Walnut Creek, Calif., were hiking in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument when the flood hit about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Six others were also in the group, including the couple's son and daughter and a pair of hiking guides from Wayne County.
Garfield County spokeswoman Becki Bronson says guides Elizabeth Kleiman and Cody Clapp have said that the Chapples, both 60, were swept away when the flood hit. The rest of the group clung to canyon walls and was able to climb out.
Searchers found the bodies late Wednesday in a downstream drainage. A state helicopter is expected to fly into the area to recover the bodies Thursday.
Bronson says two people in the group also were flown to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George to be treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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09-11-2008 09:23 AM # ADS
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09-11-2008, 09:25 AM #2
WOnder which canyon? One of the Egypt slots? Another claim for Chop?
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09-11-2008, 09:30 AM #3
from information posted from ram on the Canyons Group ...
EGYPT 3
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09-11-2008, 09:34 AM #4
looks like the guides are from Backcountry Outfitters in torrey
sad incident.
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09-11-2008, 09:50 AM #5
Bruce stared this post earlier today
http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13786
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09-11-2008, 10:05 AM #6
Re: Flash Flood deaths in Escalante
Originally Posted by Reedus
I believe this is the same Gordon Chapple:
http://www.gordonchapple.com/"The ACA is a non-profit organization..."
- Rich Carlson, the ACA's founder/president/director/self-appointed king
"A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval."
- Mark Twain
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09-11-2008, 02:58 PM #7
Flash flood in Escalante slot canyon claims 2 hikers
By Lindsay Whitehurst and Mark Havnes
The Salt Lake Tribune
PANGUITCH - A California couple drowned in a slot canyon southeast of Escalante in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument after being caught by a flash flood.
Kathy and Gordon Chapple, both 60, of Walnut Creek, Calif., were on a guided hike with family members in a narrow canyon in the Egypt trailhead area when they were hit by the floodwaters about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Garfield County spokeswoman Becki Bronson.
It was raining lightly and the group of eight was hiking out when the water hit them about a quarter-mile from the upper mouth of the canyon known as Egypt Three.
"Literally, it was a matter of minutes from the time it started raining to the time it began to flood," Bronson said.
The hikers were swept down the narrow canyon until it widened out to about 50 feet. There, the banged-up survivors were able to escape by clinging to the walls of the slot canyon, according to Bronson.
But Kathy and Gordon Chapple had been swept away.
The survivors included the couple's adult son, Chris Chapple, and daughter-in-law, Liz Fries, 30, who suffered an injured ankle; and the couple's daughter, Katie Chapple, 32, and son-in-law Tom Schrupp, 33, whose shoulder was injured.
While Katie stayed with the two injured people, Chris Chapple hiked out of the canyon to summon help, along with hiking guides Cody Clapp and Elizabeth Kleiman, of Capitol Reef Backcountry Outfitters, based in Torrey in Wayne County.
Garfield County Sheriff's Deputy Ray Gardner said the 911 call came about 5:30 p.m.
At about 7 p.m. Wednesday, one of the guides and a sheriff's deputy were flown by a Classic Helicopter operator back to the canyon, where they located the bodies.
Garfield County Dan Perkins said the two victims were declared dead Wednesday evening, but the bodies could not be recovered at that time.
The two injured family members were flown to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, where they were treated and released, Bronson said.
By noon Thursday, the bodies had been recovered with the help of a Utah Highway Patrol helicopter, Bronson said.
The slot canyon hiking trip culminated three days of activities in which Backcountry Outfitters had taken the family horseback riding, all-terrain vehicle riding and on other outdoor activities, Clapp told The Salt Lake Tribune Thursday morning. But Clapp declined to say more about the fatal flash flood.
Clapp, a guide since 1994, is the founder of the company and guides tourists every season, according to its Web site.
Kleiman has been guiding for about 10 years, the site says, and is also a registered nurse.
Sheriff Perkins noted that even experienced hikers can be caught by flash floods in slickrock country.
"This is some of the roughest terrain in the world," added Bronson.
Larry Crutchfield, spokesman for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, said: "Flash flood is a warning we give over and over again. A very quick storm can happen miles from where you are, and the sun is shining, and all of a sudden here comes this wall of water."
Fast-moving thunderstorms passed above the Egypt trails about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Randy Graham, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. The storms deposited 0.2 inch to 0.5 inch of rain.
The Egypt Three area is located about 26 miles south of State Route 12 off the Hole-in-the-Rock Road, which is a dirt-and-gravel track that begins about 5 miles east of Escalante.
In April 2005, the bodies of two Brigham Young University students were found in the south fork of Choprock Canyon, a deep slot canyon accessible from the Egypt trailhead.
The two men were wearing wet suits and had gear for rappelling.
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09-11-2008, 03:13 PM #8
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09-12-2008, 09:49 AM #9
This is sad. I just don't get it. That canyon is full of easy escapes and widens and narrows frequently. Crazy that .2 to .5 in. of rain could cause a flash. Yes I know the terrain and lack of dirt/vegitation. Still looking for answers. Hope the guide service has insurance.
Life is Good
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09-12-2008, 10:44 AM #10
E3 got a good steeply-dropping drainage atop it. i don't know exactly how much water you need, but if you figure .2-.5 inches over a large area, pooled together collecting into a very narrow slot canyon, it's not hard to imagine that a rapidly moving storm could make a deep enough flood. nat and i watched a hard downpour of rain send a raging flash flood over mindbender falls after 20-minutes.
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09-18-2008, 03:28 PM #11
Interesting post on the Yahoo Canyons group. Rick Green, one of the SAR guys made some great points. I don't have permission to cut and past so you'll have to check it out.
Life is Good
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09-18-2008, 04:16 PM #12Originally Posted by Scott Card
Slight correction...Rick Green is not a member of SAR - he is the owner of "Excursions of Escalante", an Escalante-based guiding service. He accompanied 2 SAR members to find and extricate the bodies since he was familiar with the canyon.
I don't have permission either, but I'm sure he won't mind the free advertising. Here's a direct link to it so you don't have to wade through the other messages and a copy of it if you are not a member of the Yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/message/47112
Originally Posted by Rick Green"The ACA is a non-profit organization..."
- Rich Carlson, the ACA's founder/president/director/self-appointed king
"A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval."
- Mark Twain
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09-18-2008, 04:47 PM #13Originally Posted by skianddive
Member of Escalante Search and Rescue
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09-18-2008, 06:45 PM #14Originally Posted by trackrunner
Originally Posted by Rick Green"The ACA is a non-profit organization..."
- Rich Carlson, the ACA's founder/president/director/self-appointed king
"A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval."
- Mark Twain
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09-18-2008, 06:57 PM #15
rick is often one of the first people out on canyon emergencies/SAR in the escalante region.
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09-19-2008, 06:05 AM #16
Well written article Rick.
The tragedy about this situation is that the more deaths/disasters that occur in that area, the more press it receives, and the more people are attracted to it - which in turn results in more inexperienced folks ending up in bad situations, which leads to more deaths/disasters. Its a vicious never-ending cycle. I call it the Ralston Cycle...for obvious reasons - Blue John never received so many visitors as it did after AR's epic disaster.It's only "science" if it supports the narrative.
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