A California man drowned last weekend in a Green River raft accident at Dinosaur National Monument/Kurt Repanshek file

Drownings, auto accidents, hiking incidents, and search-and-rescue missions. Though it might sound like just another summer week in the National Park System, at Glacier National Park in Montana incidents requiring help from rangers are up 40 percent over last year's pace.

Heavy visitation, inattentive park visitors, and visitors perhaps unprepared for the conditions they encountered all likely contributed at times to the past week's accidents and fatalities in the parks.

* A California man died in a rafting accident at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah;

* A hiker survived a harrowing 1,200-foot slide in Paintbrush Canyon of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming;

* A teenager drowned at New River Gorge National River in West Virginia, and;

* Glacier National Park rangers found themselves jumping from car wrecks off the Going-to-the-Sun Road to a horseback rider who broke an ankle falling off their steed to searching for missing hikers.

Dinosaur National Monument, Utah

The Fourth of July holiday week turned somber Saturday when a commercial raft guided by Adrift Adventures became stuck on a rock in Triplet Falls, a Class III rapid on the Green River. Anthony Vasi, 47, of Newport Beach, California, was one of several passengers who fell into the river. According to a Park Service release, "Vasi was responsive while trapped in the water, but initial attempts to pull him out were unsuccessful. He became unresponsive when being moved from behind the rock into the main current by a rescue swimmer."

After rescuers were able to move Vasi onto a gravel bar, guides performed CPR for roughly 90 minutes before the man was pronounced dead by medical personnel flown to the site by Classic Air Medical.

Park rangers who arrived helped the river party continue on down to Echo Park, where they left the river on Sunday.

Triplet Falls is located in a remote portion of Dinosaur about 12 river miles from the monument’s northern boundary near Gates of Lodore. The area is surrounded by steep canyon walls rising 1,200 feet and higher above the river. There is no cell service in that portion of the monument. River flow was approximately 2,350 cubic feet per second during the weekend.

A fall down Paintbrush Canyon required rangers to rescue a hiker/NPS file

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Grand Teton rangers Monday rescued a hiker with serious injuries sustained when he fell while hiking near Paintbrush Divide. According to a park dispatch, two individuals were day hiking in Paintbrush Canyon when one of them, 35-year-old Jarek Strzalkowski of Poland, residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, fell.

Strzalkowski was hiking in snow and rock when he lost his footing and fell on the east side of Paintbrush Divide. He toppled approximately 1,200 feet down snow fields and rock outcroppings toward Grizzly Bear Lake. 

Strzalkowski's hiking partner ascended the trail and was able to make an emergency 911 call. Three park rangers were transported via Teton Interagency helicopter to close proximity and hiked to the injured hiker. Rangers accessed Strzalkowski's unspecified injuries, stabilized him, and determined a short-haul extraction was needed. The injured hiker was flown to Lupine Meadows and transferred by air medical transport to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

While spring temperatures have melted out many of the trails at lower elevations in Grand Teton National Park, elevations above 9,000 feet in the Teton Range are still snow-covered. Hikers and climbers in these areas should carry both an ice axe and crampons and know how to use them or adjust their route. Hikers should visit the Jenny Lake Ranger Station before backcountry trips to get the most current route conditions.

Three people were injured when their SUV went off the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park/NPS, Tim Rains

Glacier National Park, Montana

Monday was a busy day for Glacier's rangers. About 5 p.m. rangers responded to a report of an SUV 40 feet down an embankment off the Going-to-the-Sun Road near Packer’s Roost, several miles below the Loop. The vehicle had swerved to avoid another car stopped in the roadway to view a bear along the road. Park rangers performed a technical rescue for the people in the vehicle. Park sawyers then cut down a number of trees so that a tow truck could remove the SUV.

The three occupants of the car were transported to the hospital in stable condition, two via ambulance and one via ALERT helicopter.

Also around 5 p.m. Monday, park rangers responded to a call at Lake Josephine for a visitor who suffered an open ankle fracture after falling from a horse. Rescuers carried the patient to the trailhead, where an ALERT helicopter met them to take the rider to the hospital.

During these two incidents, the park also responded to a report of an infant locked in a car, two missing parties, a bear struck by a car on Highway 2 outside the park, a DUI arrest in Many Glacier, and an abandoned dog at Logan Pass Visitor Center. 

Hundreds of vehicles and multiple shuttle buses were delayed along the Going-to-the-Sun Road during the motor vehicle accident response near Packer’s Roost. Park dispatch received numerous calls from family members concerned about delayed visitors on the road.

Because of the number of cars on the road during periods of high visitation, even minor accidents along the Going-to-the-Sun Road can delay traffic for hours while law enforcement response or rescue efforts are underway. Last year in early July, the Going-to-the-Sun Road was closed for several hours due to a vehicle collision at Triple Arches. 

“Unexpected incidents in the park can have significant consequences for visitors,” said Glacier Superintendent Jeff Mow. “Always carry extra food and water, even if you are not planning on hiking into the backcountry. You should always plan for the unplanned, including delays along the road or elsewhere.” 

Glacier National Park law enforcement and emergency services incidents are up 40 percent over 2018 so far. Total calls for service are up 500 calls over 2018 figures. 

A 16-year-old boy drowned when swept downstream in the New River/NPS file

New River Gorge National River, West Virginia

A 16-year-old boy swimming near the McCreery River Access Point of New River Gorge National River was swept downstream and drowned. His body was found around noon Saturday. 

The boy’s body was found 200 yards downstream from where he was last seen. He had been swimming in the river with two companions just before 7 a.m. Friday when he got caught in the current and was swept downstream. His body was found 14 feet beneath the river’s surface. The boy was not wearing a life jacket, according to park staff.

The New River is a high-volume river with swift currents, deep holes, and a rocky bottom. Water levels can change daily and conditions in even familiar areas can change quickly. Personal flotation devices, or life jackets, are essential safety items and should be worn anytime people are in or around the water, including while in a boat. Most drownings in the New River involve people who didn’t plan on being in the water. Even experienced river users can become disoriented or incapacitated during an accident on the river.