The month of June was very busy for Cook County Search and Rescue personnel with four calls to remote areas.
Cook County Law Enforcement received an emergency message at 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, from a group of hikers about a member of their church group lost on the Superior Hiking Trail near Britton Peak in Tofte. Tofte and Grand Marais Search and Rescue personnel were paged and en route to the last known location by 9:50 p.m. Tofte Search and Rescue sent two searchers in on the trail.
While they were on the trail, the reporting party from the group’s home church in Lakeville, Minnesota, received a text message from the missing man. William Rysavy, 51, texted Thomas Wilson at the All Saints Catholic Church telling him that he was at the Leaveaux campsite, not far from the rest of the group. Grand Marais Search and Rescue was cancelled and Tofte Search and Rescue personnel continued on the trail to let the rest of the party know that Rysavy was safe. All responders were clear of the scene by 10:39 p.m.
Another call came in to Cook County Law Enforcement at 1:02 p.m. on June 17 from an anonymous party reporting a man in distress about a quarter mile in on the Leveaux trail off of the Onion River Road in Lutsen. The caller stated that the man had “lost sight in one eye and was having problems walking.”
Lutsen First Responders and Cook County Ambulance were paged. A deputy was on scene at 1:17 p.m. and Cook County Search and Rescue was paged at 1:21 and on scene at 1:34 p.m. A First Responder found the individual about three minutes up the trail. Six emergency responders went up the trail to get the man out.
The Cook County Ambulance was on scene at 1:38 p.m. No transport was given and everyone was clear of the scene by 2:42 p.m. No information on the man’s condition is available.
On Tuesday, June 23, Search and Rescue was paged to Cascade River State Park for a 16-year-old male who had fallen and hit his head. Cook County Law Enforcement received a call at 5:47 p.m. reporting that the youth had briefly lost consciousness. He also had a knee injury.
Lutsen First Responders and Search and Rescue personnel were on scene and headed to the boy’s location one-fourth of a mile west of Indian Creek Camp at 5:55 p.m. Cook County ambulance arrived and was standing by at 6:12. A First Responder contacted law enforcement dispatch at 7:06 p.m. to report that the patient was “packaged” and emergency responders were bringing him out. All responders were clear from the scene by 8:01 p.m.
The young man was transported to North Shore Hospital by ambulance. A report on his condition is not available.
Search and Rescue personnel were called out once again at 4:35 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24 when an emergency signal from a SPOT beacon was received from a Boy Scout group from somewhere between Rush and Banadad lakes. The SPOT was registered to Birchwood Boys Camp and because it simply sends out an SOS signal, it was unknown what the emergency was—or if there was an emergency.
First Responders and Search and Rescue Personnel mobilized, developing a strategy to search the area by canoe and with a tracked all-terrain vehicle. According to Cook County Law Enforcement, they successfully located the group to find that no one was lost or injured. The SPOT SOS had been accidentally engaged. Emergency responders were clear of the false alarm at 11:04 p.m.
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