Michael Howie

Firefighters from Porter and Chesterton rescued a woman Wednesday who fell down the side of a dune on a trail in the backcountry of Indiana Dunes State Park, the Town of Chesterton said in a social media post.

The woman, who had been hiking Trail 8, took a break on a tree branch, which snapped. She was unable to gain her footing and tumbled down the dune — about a 10 to 15-foot drop.

Other than being a bit dizzy, she was uninjured, Chesterton Fire Department chief Sean O'Donnell said. But the dune's steep grade and the coarse sand below her feet made it impossible for her to get back up to the trail's elevation.

Firefighters, Indiana Conservation Officers and National Park Service rangers conducted a rope rescue by tying one end to a tree and tossing the other end to the

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