Anchorage Daily News

BUTTE — An Alaska State Trooper helicopter lifted a family of five to safety Monday morning after they spent a chilly night near the face of Knik Glacier.

Sterling and Carrie Lofgreen and their three children, all of Wasilla, became stranded late Sunday afternoon when their all-terrain vehicle blew an oil drain during a bear-hunting trip.

About 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Zander Lofgreen, 15, and his brother, Carrington Ewers, 17, started walking back to their Friday Creek base camp to get oil for the machine. They walked, sometimes crossing frigid, thigh-high waters, until darkness set in and they could no longer see the trail ahead. Separated from their parents, the boys spent the night near a tree line.

“We just sat there and shivered,” Lofgreen said.

The boys said they got about two hours of sleep by staying close and using survival tips they’ve learned from their father. The teens said they yelled out periodically, but got no response.

Meanwhile, the elder Lofgreens stayed with the ATV between Friday and Metal creeks, also spending a cold night in the elements. Sterling Lofgreen was able to get off a 911 call to say his sons had not returned. His phone then went dead, preventing attempts by the troopers to contact him.

SEARCH PARTY GATHERS

When morning broke Monday, the Butte Fire Department and state troopers rallied search-and-rescue forces, including the trooper helicopter and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough water rescue team and its Zodiac-type boat. They staged on a gravel island in the Knik River near the bridge on the Old Glenn Highway.

The emergency call came in at 7:54 a.m., according to a trooper report. At 9:30 a.m. Monday, trooper pilot Mel Nading spotted the boys and landed on a nearby sandbar.

The two boys were in good shape and directed Nading to their parents, little brother and the two family dogs.

Nading brought Sterling and Carrie Lofgreen and their younger son to the staging ­area; an ambulance took them to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center.

Sterling Lofgren, 40, was in obvious pain as emergency personnel loaded him into an ambulance. He complained to rescuers of leg and back pain and reportedly is diabetic, according to borough emergency services personnel.

Carrie Lofgreen, 37, and her son, 12, according to troopers, appeared to be in good condition as they left the chopper and walked to the ambulance.

Once Nading had delivered the parents and their son, he went back up the Knik River Valley to retrieve the teenage boys and secure the family’s base camp.

WELL PREPARED

While waiting for an ambulance ride to reunite with their parents at the hospital, Zander Lofgreen assumed his dad probably wasn’t too worried, but he figured his mom would’ve been concerned about their safety. They were, after all, in bear country. The teens had a .308-caliber rifle with them.

Nading said the parents “were very happy to see us. They were emotional. They were worried about their kids” and were happy to know their sons were well.

Nading said the family was well-prepared for the adventure. He said they had the proper clothing and weapons and made themselves easy to find from the air.

“They were smart enough to wear something visual.­ They had food and water. There was no hypothermia.” The elder Lofgreens were able to build a fire, and its smoke helped Nading find them.

Now the family will have to determine how to get what Zander Lofgreen called their “moose buggy” back to the road system.

Find T.C. Mitchell at adn.com/contact/tcmitchell or call him in Wasilla at 1-907-352-6716.

ADVERTISEMENT