BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
A 29-year-old Clarkston man was found dead by Conservation officers in the Upper Peninsula’s Big Island Wilderness Area, Sunday night.
The man was camping alone and failed to return home when expected.
The Negaunee Regional Dispatch received a call about the overdue hiker at 8:20 p.m. Sunday. The DNR’s 24-hour dispatch contacted local conservation officers Mike Evink, Mark Zitnik and Acting Sgt. Rob Freeborn, who responded by 10 p.m. with canoes to the Wilderness Area.
“The missing hiker’s vehicle was located at Big Island Lake trailhead,” said Freeborn. “We portaged into the Wilderness and paddled through Big Island Lake, Mid Lake, Coattail Lake and, finally, into McInnes Lake, portaging between each lake.”
Freeborn said the officers eventually found the man at a campsite on McInnes Lake. It appeared that the hiker had experienced an accident in which his leg was badly cut and he then applied a tourniquet using his own belt. Unfortunately, those efforts failed, because the man was deceased upon the officers’ arrival.
Shifting to a recovery operation, the officers had to contend with challenging conditions, including heavy rains making it impossible for Michigan State Police to provide air assistance. Shortly after 4 a.m., the officers were able to load the body into a canoe and transport him by water and over land back to Coattail Lake, where they were assisted by other responding agencies. Finally, the man was taken out by trail from Coattail Lake to federal Forest Service Road #2254, where a responding ambulance from Alger County was waiting.
“Temperatures were in the mid-50s overnight, but torrential downpours made it a miserable night to be out,” said Chief Gary Hagler, DNR Law Enforcement Division. “Everyone involved went above and beyond in dealing with a terrible situation. We wish this search effort had resulted in a different outcome.”
The hiker’s identity was not released at time of publication pending completion of the medical examiner’s report.
Big Island Wilderness Area, a wilderness complex encompassing nearly 6,000 acres and containing almost two dozen lakes, is located in Schoolcraft County approximately eight miles south of Wetmore in Hiawatha National Forest.