Son and brother...As Reported by the Associated Press.. - A Michigan man on an organized rafting expedition drowned after falling from his raft into the Russell Fork River. Kurt J. Varnhagen, 27 of Livingston County died Sat. in the section of the river known as Sixteen Stitches after his raft capsized when it hit a rock. The river, which has severe five and six-class rapids is known by rafters as one of the wildest stretches east of the Mississippi. The Dickenson County sheriff's office received a call at 1pm Saturday that a rafter had gone under, but rescue squads were unable to retrieve the body until about 4:45 pm because of high water level. Varnhagen whose trip was organized by Mountain Streams Outfitters of Ohiopyle,Pa., was thrown from the raft along with two others, was swept under a rock and became entangled in a tree that had washed downstream. The other two boaters were not injured. The accident happened in the part of the river that runs through Breaks Interstate Park, which straddles the Virginia-Kentucky border. Kurt is survived by his Mother Maryann, Father John and brothers Glenn and Kevin.
Son and brother...As Reported by the Associated Press.. - A Michigan man on an organized rafting expedition drowned after falling from his raft into the Russell Fork River. Kurt J. Varnhagen, 27 of Livingston County died Sat. in the section of the river known as Sixteen Stitches after his raft capsized when it hit a rock. The river, which has severe five and six-class rapids is known by rafters as one of the wildest stretches east of the Mississippi. The Dickenson County sheriff's office received a call at 1pm Saturday that a rafter had gone under, but rescue squads were unable to retrieve the body until about 4:45 pm because of high water level. Varnhagen whose trip was organized by Mountain Streams Outfitters of Ohiopyle,Pa., was thrown from the raft along with two others, was swept under a rock and became entangled in a tree that had washed downstream. The other two boaters were not injured. The accident happened in the part of the river that runs through Breaks Interstate Park, which straddles the Virginia-Kentucky border. Kurt is survived by his Mother Maryann, Father John and brothers Glenn and Kevin.
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