Lost in Jay Cooke: rescues rise

The call was unmistakable and perked the ears of a Jay Cooke State Park staff member: "Help!" a person cried.

Within moments, a response was developing. The Carlton County Sheriff's Office came with its drone team, and the fire departments from Carlton and Esko descended onto the park with four-wheelers and rope rescue kits.

"Ultimately, nobody was found in distress," Chief Deputy Dan Danielson said. "And nobody ever reported any loved ones missing. It could have been a self-rescue."

Jay Cooke State Park is 9,000 acres of wild terrain, featuring rapid waters, cliffs and rock outcroppings, forests and ravines, and some 50 miles of hiking trails. Now, more than ever before, it's being utilized by people near and far.

In 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, park visits surpassed half-a-million visitors, an increase of 105,370 visitors compared to 2019. Since then, it's maintained an attendance above 450,000 people annually. Along with the surge in park visitors, risks associated with exploring the wilderness are also on the rise. There are more rescues and circumstances requiring first responders than ever.

"Jay Cooke is a rugged area and with Covid-19 we certainly had an increase in usership from people that may not have had that much experience in the outdoors and how to conduct themselves in a rustic environment," park manager Lisa Angelos said. "They do get into situations beyond the capacity of what they thought they were capable of."

Late last month, during a pitch for a new fire truck to the Thomson Township board, fire chief Kyle Gustafson zeroed in on the rise in park responses to help make his case.

"We're just seeing more people getting lost in the park," Gustafson said. "I would assume it has to do with the parks being open during Covid, and people trying to get outdoors and space themselves.

Since that happened, those call-types have gone up."

Fire departments from Carlton, Thomson Township and Wrenshall all respond to calls within the boundaries of the park. Carlton fire chief Derek Wolf shared a report with the Pine Knot News which showed 14 calls between July 2022 and last month. The calls include any number of situations - injured or lost hikers, people stranded on rocks, folks trapped on the wrong side of the river, children wandering away from their parents.

"They're not necessarily always lost," Wolf said. "They get out too far and don't have the steam to get back. Sometimes all we have to do is drive out with a 'wheeler,' pick them up and drive them back."

The call report shows a few incidents requiring only two responders, and others requiring between seven and 14 rescuers.

"It can be 10-minute calls up to four- to five-hour calls," Gustafson said. "We've had calls where we've had to set up multiple riggings with ropes to get people out of the park."

Park headquarters are an utterly familiar place for many residents - the swinging bridge, the root-beer colored water pooling around prehistoric rocks.

But, "there's a lot out there that exists that the sort of regular user doesn't always get to," Angelos said.

In one incident last winter, after heavy snowfall reshaped the terrain by bending and breaking trees throughout the region, a family from southern Minnesota became stranded in the park, having ventured too far and grown too cold and weak to proceed.

"We ended up cutting our way in to get them out," Wolf said. "The dad had winter boots and clothes, but the kids he brought with him did not."

Angelos uses instances such as that to help educate others on ways to avoid hazardous circumstances. She recommends "a little advanced planning," including having weather-appropriate clothing, cellular devices that are charged, food and water, a light source, proper footwear and a sense of the weather forecast.

"We get pretty hot conditions here that can also become search and rescue situations as people get too far out on the trail, beyond their capacity, and get stressed from heat or dehydration," she said.

Staying put if lost or stranded is key, she said. It allows rescuers to zero in on a location rather than being sent on a wild goose chase.

She also stressed the importance of using the AVENZA apps that feature maps of state park trails. Once downloaded onto a smartphone, the maps can be accessed even if the cellular signal is lost.

"It's very helpful," she said, "and it's reduced the number of calls we get where someone says, 'I just passed a birch tree, can you tell me where I am?'"

To help responders in their efforts, the park has worked to make it more navigable. Trailheads along Highway 210 have been outfitted with 911 addresses, so that not all responses are directed to park headquarters, and Danielson said the park has done well to reduce hazardous activities such as swimming and diving from the bridge in Thomson.

"That was a dangerous thing that was happening," Danielson said. "The park staff are good about getting information out and educating the users."

One group of people the park hasn't seemed to conquer: kayakers. Angelos said the park hasn't experienced a call involving kayakers since she arrived in 2015.

"Knock on wood," she said. "I believe the reason for that is the majority of people ending up down in this zone are very experienced kayakers. They know what they're getting into. But, the potential for serious river rescues exists here."

The Sheriff's Office would take the lead on any water rescues, while the local fire departments tend to lead on ground retrievals. If any situation becomes too big, the St. Louis County Rescue Squad provides mutual aid.

A recent body recovery by local authorities in the Nemadji River happened outside of the park, but in similar terrain. That discovery was initiated by kayakers. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension also continues to maintain a missing person bulletin for Larry Franklin, a 48-year-old man from Cook County, Minnesota, who was last seen on Sept. 23, 2003, a day he planned to go hiking in the park. Authorities only found his parked vehicle.

"He had no intention of not leaving the park, and we haven't found him yet," Danielson said.

Angelos also noted another grim reality of the rugged park - it is sometimes sought as a final destination for people who take their own lives. It's an infrequent occurrence for park staff to find victims of suicide.

"It's a beautiful place and has special meaning to people," Angelos said. "People will turn to the park as the last place they spend their time."

Regardless of the circumstance, the park manager praised the work of the first-responders that serve the park.

"We get excellent service," she said. "Having them in close proximity to the park, and very responsive when there's a call, is a tremendous asset for us. We're very grateful for their aid."

Editor's note: This story was edited to clarify the frequency of finding victims of suicide in the park as less common.