Dramatic Water Rescue of Stranded Elderly Man on Yakima River [VIDEO]

Monday afternoon, Kittitas County Sheriff's Department Rescue Crews were able to extract a kayaker who was stranded on a pile of logs.

  The Man's Kayak Had Tipped, He Was Able to Swim to Logpile

The KCSO says that afternoon they were advised of a 69-year-old kayaker who was stranded in the middle of the fast-moving river east of Cle Elum.

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The elderly man's kayak had tipped, he was able to swim and crawl onto a large pile of dead trees, but he was stranded in the middle of the water.

   KCSO Crews Steered Inflatable Rescue Boat Up to the Man

Sergeant Zach Green, who is an experienced swiftwater operator, backed the 12-foot boat downstream until he could secure a line to the log pile. Then, the elderly man was extricated from his precarioius perch, and whisked to safety.

The KCSO said this was the first time the kayaker had been on the Yakima, and with summer runoff conditions, that river and others in the area can be fast and treacherous. The man was unharmed.  This video and the still images, are courtesy of the KCSO Drone Unit.