Two Davis County men suffered hypothermia and bruises after spending several hours in the Great Salt Lake Sunday, hanging onto their swamped canoe.
The two men are lucky to be alive, according to Davis County Sheriff Glenn Clary, who warned the lake is too big and too rough for canoeing.The sheriff's department's search and rescue team was called out about 10 p.m. Sunday, Clary said, after Jason C. Staley, 27, Kaysville, and John Perry, 28, Layton, failed to return from an overnight camping trip.
They camped Saturday night on Fremont Island and were due back at 1 p.m. Sunday, Clary said.
But on their return trip, rising winds and waves swamped their 16-foot canoe, Clary said. The two men clung to the canoe for several hours, suffering bruises and abrasions as they were flung about.
They spotted lights from search teams on the beaches of Antelope Island, abandoned their drifting canoe, and began swimming for the island, Clary said.
Two searchers, Lynn Riddle and Dale Tejero, found them in a restroom on the north end of the island shortly after 1 a.m. Monday, huddled in the building trying to get warm, Clary said.
The two men were taken to Davis Hospital where they were treated for hypothermia and released, Clary said.