ALBERTVILLE, Minn. -- The father and son stranded on a snowmobiling trip in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are back in Minnesota and sharing their new outlook on life after an ordeal that could have left them dead.
Ben Jenney, 41, and his son BJ, 19, of Albertville, became stuck on a creek last Sunday near their cabin. Facing temperatures of more than 30 below zero, with waist high snow drifts, they kept walking out of the remote area until they were rescued 22 hours later.
They texted for help but knew they couldn't stay with the sleds. The next 22 hours would prove to be the most challenging of their lives. They kept walking to stay warm, and only had a few granola bars and a bottle of Vitamin Water to share.
Meanwhile, Ben's brothers drove from Minnesota to Michigan to join the search themselves. Finally, the father and son, wearing from an entire night of walking, caught the sight of an orange hat. It was the park ranger that would rescue them.
"I saw him and focused on him, whatever happened around me, I don't know until I got to the ER," said Ben Jenney. "He was my hero."
Ben only required an overnight hospital stay and BJ came home with a little frostbite on his foot. Ben Jenney returned to his business on Monday, The Phone Guys in Crystal, while BJ resumed his college classes at the University of Northwestern in Roseville. Both say they are back with a renewed faith.
"From my perspective, trust in God when things go awry. He is still right there. He will get you through it and our time isn't up there is still something for us to do here," said BJ Jenney.
"I don't believe we could have done it on our own. We definitely couldn't have done it without each other," said Ben Jenney.
They both plan to keep snowmobiling, but with more survival gear.
"I think the main thing to help us would have been some sort of GPS to track which way to go and more importantly for other people to track where we were," said Ben Jenney.
