Rafter reports hazardous tree in Skykomish River

Monroe resident Heidi Stewart says her rafting group nearly drowned last Sunday when the current in the Skykomish River pushed them into a fallen tree near Al Borlin Park. The City of Monroe is now warning recreationists about the strainer.

Stewart said there were five in her rafting group on Sunday. Seeing large trees down in the river is normal, she said, but “this one just happens to be in a very unfortunate space.”

“We were trying to steer around it, and the guy on the raft next to us was trying to raft around it,” she said. “He was lucky: he got sucked through the other side and did get out and walked.”

But Stewart said her group was sucked into the strainer; five men who had seen them from the shore pulled them out.

“One couple that was on the shore there said it happened to someone else earlier that day,” she said.

Stewart contacted the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Seattle Parks and Recreation director Mike Farrell about the tree strainer.

“It would be very easy to get killed there,” Stewart said. “There are just all these branches there under the water that you probably won’t be able to make it through if you get sucked under the water.”

Stewart came back to the spot — just past the second parking lot in Al Borlin Park —to take photos on Monday, and that’s when she spotted an empty raft stuck in the strainer.

The City of Monroe published a public service announcement about the strainer hazard on its website and Facebook page on Tuesday, and there is now a sign up in the park cautioning people about strong currents and downed trees.

“We did put another sign upstream, and in that location is where there’s an old railway trestle that goes around the river,” Farrell said.

The parks director said he appreciates Stewart calling the hazard to the city’s attention, and he has communicated with Fish and Wildlife and Monroe’s insurance authority regarding the strainer.

He said Fish and Wildlife reports to the city that attempting to remove the strainer could create more of a hazard, and it was also determined that people should be able to avoid it. The tree is expected to get pushed further downstream as the river elevation rises.

Farrell said Monroe Police, Fire District 7, the county and Department of Natural Resources have all been alerted to the hazard.

“It would be great if they could just chain-saw up the tree,” Stewart said, but she also believes putting plywood up in front of the strainer could do the trick.