On Sept. 7, at 1:15 p.m., the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received notice of a distress signal from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, via a Garmin safety device. The GPS coordinates placed the spot of the distress west of Contest Lake, in the area of Stuart River portage. This area is northwest of Ely. Garmin informed the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office they had updated information and that the injured party had a possible broken leg.

The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office Rescue Squad, Morse Township Fire Department, the Minnesota State Patrol – MART and Lifelink Helicopter service assisted in getting to the injured party and getting them removed from the wilderness.

The injured party is a 70-year-old Fort Collins, Colo., resident and was transported to a Duluth hospital due to non-life threatening injuries. The name of the injured party is being withheld, pending notification of their family.