The man and woman were in the midst of the Three Dune Challenge at Indiana Dunes State Park when they decided to rest by sitting on a low-hanging tree branch on the brilliantly sunny Wednesday morning.
Suddenly, the tree branch snapped and the couple was sent tumbling backwards down the side of a dune near Mount Holden on Trail 8, the second leg of the 1.5-mile challenge.
That led to a response from state conservation officers, National Park rangers and the Porter and Chesterton Fire Departments.
Doug Lang, the Indiana Dunes State Park manager, said their conservation officers were able to quickly help pull the man up to the path. The man and woman are in their 50s or 60s and were visiting from out of state. Lang wouldn’t release their names.
“She was a little bit further, about 30 feet down the side and when we got there, she was in an upside-down position. She was holding on to a limb,” Lang said.
Conservation officers were able to get the woman sitting in an upright position, Lang said.
But they needed more help to get her up the sandy hillside.
About six firefighters from the Porter and Chesterton Fire Departments arrived with a rope shortly before noon.
“She needed help getting up,” said Chesterton Fire Chief Sean O’Donnell, noting that the woman couldn’t gain traction with the sand and steep grade.
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The rope bag was secured to a tree and the woman was then able to use the line to pull herself up the hillside.
An ATV then transported the couple off the trail. Remarkably, aside from some minor scratches, neither of them required further treatment, Lang said
Lang said that it is uncommon for people to fall off the trail and that this is the first time it has happened in his four years as park manager.
Typically, the park staff has had to help people who suffer from heat exhaustion or ankle sprains sustained on the trail.
“That’s probably the most strenuous trail we have in Northwest Indiana, maybe in the Midwest,” Lang said.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.