Grand Teton rangers rescued a 71-year-old solo kayaker from the Snake River on Thursday morning after the woman missed a boat landing and spent the night on a sandbar.

Jane Dukes, a Colfax, Ind. resident, survived near-freezing temperatures mostly unscathed.

Her ordeal began after she set out from the Pacific Creek Landing in an inflatable kayak at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Dukes, who had no experience with the Snake River or kayaks, intended to float downstream and paddle back to the launch site, according to Grand Teton spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs. Dukes was wearing a life jacket and had experience canoeing on lakes and small creeks.

“Right away she misjudged how strong the current can be ... in the river,” Skaggs said. “Unless you’re a good kayaker and very strong, [paddling back upstream] is a difficult maneuver to do.”

If unable to paddle back to her put-in, Dukes planned to take out at Deadman’s Bar. Skaggs said the section of river Dukes was paddling was running at 4,300 cubic feet per second, and the trip from Pacific Creek Landing to Deadman’s Bar would have taken two to two-and-a-half hours.

At that time of night, “there’s quite a bit less light and visibility is decreased,” said Skaggs. “You wouldn’t be able to read the river and make out where the current is heading or see in time an obstruction like a log jam or a leaner tree.”

Dukes ultimately missed the Deadman’s Bar Landing and pulled up on a sandbar about two miles upstream from Moose Landing near the Bar BC historic site to wait for help.

“She wisely made the decision to beach her boat and stay put,” Skaggs said.

Dukes’ family reported her missing at 9:45 p.m., and rescue workers spent the evening looking for Dukes from various locations along the riverbank. One ranger drove along River Road and used night vision goggles to look for Dukes or her boat.

In the meantime, Dukes turned her kayak over and used it as a shelter to keep warm in the 35-degree temperatures that were recorded on the Snake on Wednesday night.

By late evening Wednesday or early morning Thursday, officials made the decision to call off the search and wait for safer conditions.

At first light, Skaggs said rangers resumed the search in rafts. The Teton Interagency contract helicopter, staffed with Park Service rangers and helitak personnel, joined the search and ultimately found Dukes at 8:15 Thursday morning. In all, 19 rescue personnel participated in the search- and-rescue operation.

With a green life vest and her boat turned over to expose the black bottom of the craft, Dukes was hard for rescuers to see, but she heard the helicopter and waved her arms to get the attention of rescuers. Rescuers transported Dukes to St. John’s Medical Center where she was treated and released.

While Skaggs said Dukes made bad decisions early on, her ability to keep calm once she realized she was in trouble likely saved her life.

“We were hoping that she might have been able to walk out,” said Skaggs. “[But] she has some physical conditions that make if difficult for her to walk. She knew that was impossible so she stayed put on the sandbar. That decision contributed to her being able to survive the night.”

This is the second time in less than two weeks that ill-prepared boaters required a rescue in the park. On July 10, rangers rescued a 45-year-old man and his son after their “rubber ducky” raft sank in the Snake River.