A 23-year-old nurse’s canoe trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) was cut short when a fall resulted in a broken ankle—and a wellorchestrated rescue effort on Thursday, July 8.
The woman and her party were four portages away from the wilderness entry point on Sawbill Lake in Tofte, on the 180-rod portage out of Cherokee Lake when the accident occurred. She was carrying a pack and had her dog on a leash. The leash got tangled around her legs and she fell, severely injuring her ankle. She told rescuers that she heard a bone break.
Her fellow travelers helped her over the first portage and they fortunately met another group from Camp Nebagamon in Wisconsin coming in. The youth camp leaders were wilderness first responders and they were able to splint the injured foot. They also had a satellite phone and they contacted their camp headquarters. Staff at Camp Nebagamon called Sawbill Canoe Outfitters and reached owner Cindy Hansen at 11:12 a.m. The initial rescuers said they expected to arrive at Sawbill in 1½ – 2 hours.
Hansen notified Cook County Law Enforcement and a page went out to Tofte First Responders and Cook County Ambulance. At 12:30 p.m., after more than an hour of waiting for the injured woman to arrive, the Tofte Rescue Squad asked Cook County to page the Sheriff Response Unit (SRU) to bring its boat to pick up the victim, saving an hour of paddle time. At 12:53 p.m., Tofte District Ranger John Wytanis gave the go ahead to use a motorboat in the wilderness for the rescue on Sawbill Lake.
As local law enforcement and the US Forest Service worked out the details, Hansen, Andy Keith, and Kaj Snow, a wilderness first responder, started paddling across Sawbill Lake.
At about the same time, the Forest Service contacted Wilderness Rangers Ryan Blaisdell and Elizabeth Mejicano, who were installing a privy at a campsite on Sawbill Lake. They joined the rescue effort, meeting Hansen and crew on the portage out of Sawbill. The wilderness rangers and the Sawbill crew split up, each taking a different route to the injured woman to ensure they did not miss the party coming out. They reunited up the trail and were able to relieve the Camp Nebagamon group, which was then able to continue its canoe trip.
Wilderness first responder Snow paddled the canoe with the injured woman aboard. When they reached the 80-rod portage to Sawbill Lake, the Sawbill group constructed a stretcher of Crazy Creek chairs, paddles, and a Thermarest air mattress.
In the meantime, SRU had reached Sawbill Lake and launched its boat at 2:54 p.m. Jeff Kern and Willie Olin of SRU met the Sawbill group on the final portage and assisted in carrying the patient out. By 3:46 p.m. they had reached the lake and motored back to the Sawbill landing, where the Cook County ambulance was waiting. The woman was transported to Cook County North Shore Hospital.
“It was the most beautifully executed rescue ever,” said Hansen. She commended the Camp Nebagamon wilderness responders for their calm response. “Theydid a fabulous job setting her ankle,” she said.
The injured woman was transported to Duluth for treatment of a broken tibia and fibula. “She was a very stoic person, which helped,” said Hansen, but she added that everyone did a great job. “It was so well orchestrated.”
Hansen noted that her staff back at the outfitters did a great job getting another group set up for its trip into the BWCAW and keeping everyone calm.
Tofte District Ranger John Wytanis said he appreciated everyone’s efforts, noting that it is not very often that motorboat usage is allowed. Theprotocol is for Cook County Law Enforcement to contact the Forest Service dispatcher, who contacts the district ranger, who then contacts Forest Supervisor Jim Sanders, who ultimately makes the decision of whether or not motor usage (boat or plane) is authorized.
“If we really need it, we’ll use it,” said Wytanis a few days after the rescue. “Cook County is really good about not ‘pulling the trigger.’ We know how tough those portages are and how tired the crews were. In this case we thought it was necessar y.”
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