Guides From Bayfield Outfitter Ignored Warnings: Chief Ranger

The 10 kayakers rescued from rough waters near the sea caves last week were led by two guides from Trek & Trail, a Bayfield company with years of experience organizing day trips, according to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Chief Ranger Myra Foster.

Those guides failed to heed warnings from park rangers before launching from Meyers Beach, Foster said. Foster said individual kayakers sometimes ignore weather warnings, but rarely do commercial operations. “It is very, very rare that they don't heed us,” she said.

Rangers use a real-time system to monitor wave strength at the sea caves, whose treacherous conditions have caused kayakers to capsize and freeze to death. On Aug. 17, waves measured three-to-four feet high when two kayakers capsized before being rescued by a private boater. The waves measured four-to-five feet by the time 15 personnel from the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore arrived to rescue eight others, according to the park service.

The owner of Trek & Trail, Mary Sweval, described weather conditions as “fine” at the time of the group's launch. “It wasn't poor at the time,” Sweval said Tuesday. “At the time, the conditions were fine.” She declined to further respond when asked about warnings given at the time of the launch.

Park officials say rangers warned the group that weather conditions were poor and were expected to get worse. At the time of the launch, waves at the sea caves were known to be two to three feet, according to the wave observation system. “It was a day that had a lot of warnings out there,” Foster said. “This was not unexpected weather.”

Foster also said park officials plan to meet with Trek & Trail representatives Wednesday to discuss the incident and to take steps to make sure “something like this doesn't happen again.”

Charging Trek & Trail for the cost of the rescue effort has not been considered, Foster said. “That's just not something we've done” in the past, she said.

Trek & Trail is one of 120 different groups, ranging from Boy Scouts to private outfitters, registered and authorized for commercial use of the park. Those groups must provide park officials with itineraries providing details about their trips. Trek & Trail did provide an itinerary about the trip, which assisted emergency personnel in responding to the situation, Foster said.