BAXTER — An afternoon sled ride turned into a close call Friday when two female passengers were ejected from a runaway dogsled on the Paul Bunyan Trail. 

Dianne Lindvall of Big Lake said she and her friend, Shirley Connolly were taking the sled ride to celebrate Connolly’s 75th birthday. Temperatures were in the 30s beneath blue skies.

“We were waiting for a good day,” Lindvall said. “It wasn’t a good day.”

The two passengers were aboard the sled pulled by 15 dogs shortly before 2 p.m. when the owner and sled operator, Charlotte Wolf, stopped at the one-mile marker on the trail. Wolf stopped to adjust a harness problem with one of her lead dogs and tied the dogs off at the marker. Once the dogs were straightened out, Wolf headed back to the sled to resume the ride. 

Then the dogs snapped the line.  

Lindvall and Connolly were pulled by the unmanned sled before finally being thrown off. Lindvall said Connolly rolled off the sled and down the hill, suffering injuries they didn’t realize at the time of the incident. Wolf called for help to stop the runaway sled. Wolf said when she left the passengers at the one-mile marker they were shaken up, but seemed OK overall. 

Initially, law enforcement officers were unsuccessful in stopping the sled as it continued down the Paul Bunyan Trail toward Beaver Dam road. One of the first on the scene, Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Deputy Lori Clarine, attempted to slow the dog first by saying, “Whoa!” and later grabbing the sled.  

“I tried to stop them,” Clarine said. “There was no way.” 

Clarine grabbed a line and was dragged behind the sled. Still the dogs were unfazed.

“They took her for a ride,” said Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Chad Paulson. 

Responding officers discussed with dispatchers and the dogsled owner possible ways to stop the dogs.  Paulson said a Baxter Police officer contacted a friend familiar with dog sledding who suggested grabbing the lead dog to slow the pack.

Deputies Paulson and Clarine, along with Brainerd Police Officer Joel Reed, met the dogs nearly three miles from where they left their owner. Paulson said Reed and Clarine each grabbed the lead dogs’ lines while Paulson jumped on the sled. The pack finally came to a halt just a few hundred feet before the four-mile marker at Wise Road. 

“It could have been a lot worse,” Clarine said. “They are strong animals.”

The two passengers thrown from the runaway sled suffered injuries and Connolly was taken by North Ambulance to Essentia Health’s St. Joseph’s Medical Center. Lindvall said Connolly complained of back pain and later dizziness. 

Wolf was relieved when the situation was over and said she was grateful to the officers who responded. 

“At least nothing is broken and nobody got seriously hurt,” Wolf said. 

Paulson said some of the dogs might have suffered  rope burn, but none showed signs of major injury. Wolf got a ride with a snowmobiler to where officers stopped the dogs and spent several minutes untangling their ropes before heading back to check on her passengers a few miles back. 

“Everything is good. We’re just thankful everything is OK,” said Wolf who followed her passengers to the hospital. “(Connolly) had some severe bruising, but nothing is broken. God was watching out for us.”

SARAH NELSON may be reached at sarah.nelson@brainerddispatch or 855-5879.