A son-in-law and father-in-law kayaking on Vallecito Reservoir required an emergency rescue Sunday after the father-in-law fell off his kayak.
Law enforcement was notified about 9:30 a.m. of a man who had fallen into the reservoir. He had been in the water for about 10 minutes before the call was made, said La Plata County Sheriff’s Sgt. Cody Rieb, who responded to the call.
The two kayakers were unable to paddle back to shore because of high winds and strong currents that made navigation difficult. The son-in-law managed to deploy an anchor to keep the kayak from drifting farther while they awaited help, Rieb said.
Emergency crews from the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District responded to the scene but lacked a suitable vessel to safely reach the stranded kayakers in the rough conditions, said Bruce Evans, Upper Pine fire chief.
Rieb said a local resident allowed deputies to commandeer his boat and use it to reach the kayakers.
By the time the boat reached the men and retrieved them from the water, the man who had fallen in had been exposed to the frigid water for over an hour. Responders reported he appeared to be in what looked like stage three hypothermia, Rieb said.
The man was taken to Mercy Hospital in critical condition but is now stable and “doing well,” Rieb said.
A sheriff’s deputy was injured in the rescue operation as winds reached 50 mph Sunday and made the water extremely choppy. The deputy, Scott Blakely, fractured his tibia after being tossed around on the rough ride to reach the stranded kayakers, Rieb said.
Both the father-in-law and son-in-law are local residents, he said. The Sheriff’s Office declined to release their names.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
