DULUTH – As more first-time wilderness trekkers explore the untamed wilds of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, many are recording another first: needing rescue.
On Saturday morning the St. Louis County Rescue Squad extracted a group of nine stranded adults and teenagers from their campsite on Fourtown Lake, about 15 miles northeast of Ely.
"They attempted to stretch the abilities of their first-time crew," said conservation officer Sean Williams, who helped bring life jackets to the campers and ferried out some of them.
Williams said the group had some experienced members, but they were unfamiliar with the low water conditions when they left their site on a day trip and ultimately had to abandon their canoes. They ran into problems after realizing they'd ventured too far, Williams said. They lacked the right equipment and thought they could navigate Moose Camp Creek back to Fourtown Lake. But the stream is largely dried up this year and proved impassable.
The group tried to portage before needing to leave four canoes in muck, Williams said, and outfitters later retrieved them. The group bushwhacked back to the campsite, aided by other visitors who heard their calls for help.
"Luckily it had a happy ending," Williams said. "The weather conditions were in their favor."
Several days after his crew came to the rescue of the stranded campers, Kristian Jankofsky said outcomes like theirs need to be anticipated.
"There's a level of knowledge that isn't there for these newcomers," said the longtime St. Louis County Rescue Squad volunteer. "They don't quite know what they're getting into with these trips."
