Hiker calls for trail upkeep after search-and-rescue effort

A hiker who was stranded for hours in a heavily wooded area while traversing a stretch of the Voyageur Trail in Sault Ste. Marie over the weekend says a downed trail marker and a lack of a clear footpath caused her to lose her way. 

Wendy Catling called 911 at approximately 5:45 p.m. Sunday after getting lost along the Root River segment of a hiking trail in the Nettleton Lake area while out for a hike with her dog that afternoon.  

“Their trail was not maintained. It was overgrown so you couldn’t see the markers,” Catling told SooToday, adding that the next tree she found had markers on it directing hikers which way to turn, but it was on the ground. “It fell over, so it didn’t help me — and because it was so overgrown, there was no obvious path.”

Catling, who has a Voyageur Trail pass and is familiar with the trail network locally, tried to find the next trail marker a couple of times before waving the white flag. 

“I found my way back to the last tag I was at and that’s when I phoned 911, because I’m not going to go wandering in the bush,” she said. 

The experienced hiker came prepared for the afternoon excursion: she had packed her cellphone with its charger, in addition to fire sticks, an emergency whistle, a fluorescent vest as well as some food and water. Catling’s dog, a mixed breed named Honey, was leashed the entire time with bells on her collar. 

“Your average Joe is going to see those markers and could go in and get lost easily, and not be prepared,” she said.

Catling was advised by the 911 dispatcher to download what3words to her phone. It’s an application that divides the world into three-metre squares and gives each square a unique combination of three words. 

“I had to upload that while I was in the bush, and the connectivity with my cellphone was very poor back in there. It just kept cutting out and coming back on,” she recalled. “The police said they tried to phone me twice from the trail but they couldn’t get through.”

Police subsequently used GPS in order to locate her. Officers initially attempted to reach her location using all-terrain vehicles but couldn’t access the area, so they had to enter the area by foot instead. 

Catling says she could hear officers yelling in the bush, so she used her emergency whistle to alert them. 

After locating Catling at approximately 7:30 p.m., police again used GPS to find a way out of the heavily wooded area. Catling noticed a beaver dam that was familiar, and knew exactly where the trail was at that point. 

“We were able to take the trail out the rest of the way even though it was dark. With our flashlights we could see the markers,” she said. 

Catling reached her vehicle about an hour later — more than six hours after entering the hiking trail near Peoples Road and nearly four hours after phoning for help. 

She says the 911 dispatcher was provided with details that could’ve helped police locate her faster, but somehow officers were not relayed that information.  

“Had the 911 guy relayed information of where the trailhead was, they could have made it in on the trail much faster and easier,” Catling said.

Catling says that a number of small maple trees obscure that particular portion of trail, so it’s essential to have tags on the trees, especially the ones that show hikers which way to turn. 

According to maintenance records made available to Voyageur Trail members, Catling says from what she can tell the trail was last maintained in March 2020, with notes indicating the trail requires some tree markers and cleaning.  

“I wanted to contact them directly and say hey, you need to get out there on that trail, or least notify us that it’s not kept up,” she said.

SooToday has reached out to Voyageur Trail Association for comment.