Agreed on waiting to activate the PLB, as long as you're equipped to wait it out. Again, my impulse is to stay in place at or near my vehicle, or at or near a place of civilization is its nearby - but in overthinking mode, if you had to cross a river, having a PFD and a rock helmet in the trunk of your car would be small and reasonable equipment with which to attempt what is surely a life-threatening Western river crossing. You can actually participate in some white water rescue training, I did this on the Snoqualmie 30 years ago, basic advice though is lean back, don't try to keep your head above water, and swim like hell at 90 degrees to the current when you hit a break in any rapids. It can be incredibly tough, and you may not make it alone. Weigh your options carefully. Your odds of making it out of the water go way down without a PFD and helmet. Its such a remote possibility, I honestly wouldn't put mine in the trunk for a road trip in this or other remote areas, but in terms of space requirements, its alot less than hauling a boat...
Attempting to cross the river in question is suicide..The video I linked to, the water flows at a rate of 200,000,000 gallons (757,082,400 litres) per minute. At 25 miles an hour (40 km), twice the volume of water flows through Hell’s Gate during high water than Niagara Falls.
Now if you were to get about 90 miles downstream into the wide river valley, the river still flows too fast and is too wide to even contemplate swimming, however at this point, crossing on a powerful enough boat is done every day.
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