From darkness to dawn: Gunflint Trail volunteers carry out Grandpa Lake rescue in Boundary Waters

A nighttime medical emergency on Grandpa Lake turned into a six-hour wilderness rescue for members of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department starting Friday night, Aug. 21, and stretching into the early morning hours of Saturday, Aug. 22.

The department received a call shortly after 11 p.m. for an individual experiencing a medical emergency at a campsite on Grandpa Lake, within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

“I knew right off the bat, this is going to be a fun night. This is going to be an all-night thing,” said Kelly LaMarre, one of the GTVFD volunteers who responded to the Grandpa Lake rescue.

Grandpa Lake, a roughly 125-acre lake, is accessible from the North Bay of Seagull Lake near the end of the Gunflint Trail. Reaching the campsite required responders to cross Seagull Lake in the dark, then travel a 155-rod portage, equal to about a half-mile, before reaching Grandpa Lake.

The department staged the rescue at Wilderness Canoe Base, where volunteers gathered canoes, boats, and medical equipment and planned the route to the campsite. Once everything was ready, the group pushed off into the darkness at about 12:30 a.m. and crossed Seagull Lake.

Six Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department members — four EMTs and two firefighters — made the trip into the wilderness, joined by three Wilderness Canoe Base staff members. Other responders remained behind at the staging area to support the operation.

At about 2 a.m., they reached the campsite and found the individual in their tent in need of medical care.

“He was definitely an individual that was in need of some medical help and needed to get out,” LaMarre said. “There was no way he was getting out on his own.”

The group got the patient into a canoe, along with another member of the party and their dog, and paddled back across Grandpa Lake.

Once they reached the portage between Grandpa Lake and Seagull Lake, the most difficult part of the rescue began.

“That’s when things got a little bit challenging,” LaMarre said.

Volunteer first responders on the Grandpa Lake portage | Photo by Laurie Hanson, one of the EMTs on the rescue

Responders placed the patient in a litter, similar to a stretcher, and began moving him along the narrow, rocky trail. After a short distance, they attached a wheel to the litter, making the portage somewhat easier to navigate, but the rugged trail still remained challenging.

“There were boulders everywhere,” said Matt Schuerger, one of the GTVFD first responders involved in the Grandpa Lake rescue. “It was a long extraction through the woods.”

For several hours, three people worked on each side of the litter, with others guiding the team from the front and back through the dark woods. The volunteers rotated positions as they moved through the woods, trying to conserve enough energy to keep going. LaMarre said the limited number of people involved made the rescue particularly challenging.

“It took hours once we got onto the portage and to get across,” said Schuerger.

Eventually, the responders emerged from the portage at 5 a.m., as the first hint of daylight appeared.

“We had first morning light, which was really kind of a remarkable experience to realize that we had succeeded in getting him over the portage,” Schuerger said.

Volunteer first responders on the Grandpa Lake portage | Photo by Laurie Hanson, one of the EMTs on the rescue

The patient was loaded onto a pontoon boat and taken across Seagull Lake to Wilderness Canoe Base, where the department’s ambulance was waiting.

As EMTs, Schuerger and LaMarre transported the patient down the Gunflint Trail, where they met North Shore Health paramedics at the Gunflint Lake overlook and transferred the patient to their care for more advanced medical treatment. The patient was later then transported to Duluth for medical care.

The rescue had taken over six hours.

Throughout the rescue, the first responders were focused on one thing: getting the patient safely out of the wilderness. Once they transferred him to paramedics, that focus finally lifted.

“I let out an exhale right away,” LaMarre said. “I think all of us were exhausted after that run.” Schuerger said he went home, showered, and “just collapsed.”

Both volunteers said the rescue demonstrated the importance of the department’s regular training and working together as a team.

“I think the aftermath of the incident – it’s reflecting that we did what needed to be done, and we were able to help this person in a critical situation,” Schuerger said.

LaMarre, who has been involved with the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department on and off for roughly 17 or 18 years, said the rescue was physically one of the more difficult she has experienced.

In the days that followed, LaMarre reflected on the rescue and wrote a song, which she said was also intended as a tribute to the volunteer and emergency response crews throughout Cook County who answer calls in the middle of the night.

“I think it also gives a glimpse into not only what we do as a fire department, but what other rescue crews do in our county too,” LaMarre said. Lyrics to the song are below.

JUST ANOTHER NIGHT:

Through the night on the Gunflint Trail,
Seven souls headed into the dark,
Portage by portage, mile by mile,
Following the stars and a GPS spark.
Mud to our knees on the old trail,
Headlamps cutting through the trees,
Somewhere out there, somebody needed us,
So we kept moving through the night.

Just another night on the Gunflint,
Just another call into the wild,
Through the darkness, through the mud,
Seven rescuers running mile by mile.
No road, no lights, no easy way,
Just the stars above and the water below,
When somebody needs you out here,
You go.
You just go.

We found him tucked inside his tent,
Waiting for the sound of our boots,
Working hard to get him to the boat,
Careful hands and determined hearts.
Then across the lake through the darkness,
Paddles dipping, steady and slow,
Stars reflected on the water,
GPS telling us where to go.

Just another night on the Gunflint,
Just another call into the wild,
Through the darkness, through the mud,
Seven rescuers running mile by mile.
No road, no lights, no easy way,
Just the stars above and the water below,
When somebody needs you out here,
You go.
You just go.

Then the real challenge waited for us
A long, steep portage through the night.
Hills rising up beneath our feet,
Patient carried by headlamp light.
We looked at one another, tired,
Should we wait until morning comes?
Call in the Beaver plane instead?
But nobody really wanted to run.

Then someone brought a wheeled cart,
And suddenly we had a chance.
We eased him onto the wheels
And started down that endless path.
Around the mud pit, up the hills,
Pulling hard through the trees,
Seven rescuers taking turns,
Giving everything they had to give.

Just another night on the Gunflint,
Just another call into the wild,
Through the darkness, through the mud,
Seven rescuers running mile by mile.
No road, no lights, no easy way,
Just the stars above and the water below,
When somebody needs you out here,
You go.
You just go.

Pull him up,
Push him on,
Keep moving till the night is gone.
Through the mud,
Over stone,
Nobody gets left alone.
And when our legs were almost done,
We saw the first light of the sun.
Dawn came creeping through the trees
A welcome sight to tired eyes.

We finally reached the other side,
Morning breaking on the lake.
A motorboat was waiting there,
One more crossing we had to make.
To Wilderness Canoe Base,
Where the ambulance stood in the light,
ALS already on the way
More advanced help, just in time.

Just another night on the Gunflint,
Just another call into the wild,
Seven tired rescuers heading home.
He went down the road toward help,
And we went back toward our own.
No medals, no cameras, no parade,
Just another job that needed done.
The sun came up on the Gunflint Trail,
And another night was gone.

Through the darkness we found our way,
By the stars and the light of day.
Mud on our boots, tired to the bone,
But nobody out there was left alone.

Just another night on the Gunflint Trail,
Just another call into the wild.
Just another night for the volunteers
Of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department.
Just another night.
Just another night.

Like many volunteers on the GTVFD and those who serve in other departments throughout the county, LaMarre and Schuerger said it is a “privilege and honor” to help individuals in need of medical care in Cook County.

“I can’t think of other places where I would do this, but it’s such a part of our community, and we come together,” Schuerger said.

LaMarre said, “I find it completely gratifying to do this, to go out and just give your best and try to do the best you can for people that are really in need of help.”

Kelly LaMarre and Matt Schuerger, two of the GTFVD first responders involved in the Grandpa Lake rescue | Photo by Kalli Hawkins

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins sat down with Matt Schuerger and Kelly LaMarre, two of the first responders involved in the Grandpa Lake rescue on Friday, Aug. 21 to learn more about the rescue.

The feature below is a more complete account of the Grandpa Lake rescue, including the volunteers’ descriptions of navigating the portage in the dark, carrying the patient out, working together as a team, and what it means to each of them to be involved in the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department. Audio below.

Kalli Hawkins September 1, 2026