ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WXYZ) — Craig Berg is back home in Royal Oak after surviving 11 days lost and alone on Isle Royale, the remote national park in Lake Superior, in what he describes as an experience that required an incredible amount of grit.
Berg, 70, had planned to take a ferry to the island and hike across it over six days. Halfway through the journey, he followed a trail that turned out to be poorly marked and found himself stranded in a swamp.
WATCH THE REPORT BY 7 NEWS DETROIT'S TONY GEFTOS BELOW
"I was up to my knees in mud. I mean, every step, you wouldn't see it. I was almost like in quicksand to take my boots off," Berg said.
That is when Berg dropped his phone and lost it in the swamp, leaving him without a way to call for help or a digital navigation system.
"I had my sleeping bag. I was just shivering cold. It was, my teeth were chattering. I mean, I don't know if it was because I was afraid I wasn't going to make it out of there and the cold. Probably a combination," Berg said.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH CRAIG BERG BELOW
Berg said it took days before anyone even realized he was stranded.
"They didn't even know I was gone, lost, until after four or five days, because this was a Wednesday when I got lost. I was supposed to be on the ferry on Saturday," Berg said.
To cope with the uncertainty of his situation, Berg kept a written record of his ordeal.
"I kept a journal, just in case, you know, I didn't make it out, you know, people understand, and my family, what happened," Berg said.
After 11 days of rationing freeze-dried food, drinking what water he could find, and navigating the terrain by following the sun, Berg spotted two retired National Guardsmen in kayaks crossing a lake on the island.
"I went to a clearing and I saw, 'Wow. Is that somebody out there?' Because there's a glare off the water, and so you're not very sure, and then I saw like something else, I saw, like, two, and then I started yelling, 'Help, I'm lost! Help, I'm lost!' I must've yelled that like 10,000 times," Berg said.
The two men called in the Coast Guard, which airlifted Berg to Marquette Regional Airport, where an ambulance transported him to the hospital. He was treated for dehydration and hypothermia and was otherwise unharmed.
Since returning home, Berg has been calling the government agencies involved in his rescue to personally thank them. He is also advocating for more funding to help maintain safe trails and infrastructure at national parks.
"I started calling all the government agencies just to tell them personally, 'Thank you.' I'd like to thank everybody I can, you know, and wow, it was an experience and a lot of people are telling me, you know, guess this is your 15 minutes of fame. And I said, 'Well, I'm glad I got that over with. Check that box and I can move on, you know?'" Berg said.
Despite the ordeal, Berg says he plans to hike again — with one change.
"But will I hike again? Yeah, I'll hike again. I'd probably go with somebody, though," Berg said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
