By Pepper Fisher – OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK – Another tragedy on Lake Crescent. Olympic National Park officials announced Tuesday that a New York man drowned while kayaking with his fiancée, just two days after getting engaged.

On Friday, June 9 at 2:00pm, Park officials were notified of an overturned kayaker about a quarter mile offshore near the Log Cabin Resort. 37-year-old Travis Valenti from Massapequa, New York was kayaking with his fiancée when his kayak began taking on water. We don’t if that was caused by waves, a leak, or something else, but the report says Valenti tried to paddle to shore, but ultimately had to abandon his kayak and went into the water.

Valenti’s fiancée attempted a rescue, but her kayak overturned in the process. She was able to swim to shore, but Valenti struggled and didn’t make it. Park officials said neither were wearing a life jacket.

Staff from Log Cabin Resort responded with a motorized boat to Valenti’s last known point but were unable to locate him. On-shore bystanders and Valenti’s fiancée assisted Rangers and personnel from Clallam County Fire District 2 with identifying the area he was last seen, which was estimated to be more than a quarter mile offshore and roughly 400-500 feet deep.

Rangers searched for Valenti by vessel for more than 2 hours but were unable to locate him. A secondary search of the area and shoreline was also conducted on June 10th without any signs of Valenti.

Park officials are once again reminding us that Lake Crescent is a deep and very cold body of water with surface water temperatures near 50 degrees this time of year. Sudden immersion into cold water will impact a person’s breathing and over time, their ability to move extremities. Swimmers are encouraged to use a buddy system. Boaters should always wear a life jacket and understand the risks of recreating on large bodies of water, such as underwater hazards, wind, waves, and water temperature.

(Photo: Travis Valenti and fiancee Marlene)