Kayakers rescued after one capsizes on Lake Pend Oreille

Emergency crews rescued two kayakers and their dog after one capsized in stormy weather Monday morning on the rocky west side of Lake Pend Oreille. A man in a single kayak and a woman in a double kayak with a dog set out early Monday from Talache Landing, headed for Maiden Rock, a U.S. Forest Service recreation area about six miles south of Garfield Bay, said Jack Krill, chief of Timberlake Fire Protection District. When the man capsized, the woman maneuvered her boat to shore and called 911 on her cell phone, Krill said. The rocky coast prevented the woman from seeing where her partner had gone, he added. That area of Lake Pend Oreille is only accessible by boat and no other vessels were on the lake in the four-foot swells, Krill said. “That’s how bad it was,” Krill said. “They admitted they made an honest mistake. That weather front came in and caught them by surprise. They had been on the rock for an hour before we got to them.” Krill said the couple’s lifejackets and cell phone were critical. Sagle Fire Protection District responded first but called Timberlake because it has a boat already on the water at Bayview. Krill said it took his crew 20 minutes to get to the kayakers, who were not injured. “They were just cold and wet,” Krill said.