You are on the final night of a glorious 16 day trip with your brother and sons, and your wife and daughters, plus their cousin and daughter have joined you for the last 5 nights at Lower Basswood Falls on another permit. Everyone is pooped out and extremely ready to head home. You paddle out to the island in the middle of the falls for a special "sunset time" with your youngest - and notice that someone has stretched out a clothesline at the Canadian portage above the falls, hung up a bunch of clothes and has a tent set up. You mention to your daughter that this is not an ok place to camp, but the sun is setting and you don't really want to go cause a conflict. Maybe they arrived to all sites full and decided they were done? Besides, you are focused on the next morning which will be the start of a long day of packing all the gear and trying to make it all the way back to Mudro in one shot, knowing now the larger group is slow as molasses on the portages and you'll be lucky to make it back in time to return one canoe and some gear before the outfitter closes and all hotels are booked. Horse River is extremely low, it will be a slog of getting in and out of canoes. It will be a very long hard day.

The start to the morning goes as imagined, a long pack up and clean up and you know you'll be barely getting back to Mudro on time. You have to MOVE. You shove off for a quick paddle below the falls, and you work your way across that first portage. Your son doubles back and tells you, "you'll never believe what happened to those guys camped on the portage!" You arrive to find a Kevlar that has the bow and stern peeled back like someone tried to open a banana from both ends. They had some duct-tape that was holding it temporarily in place. Long story-short, a playful otter sighting caused them to lose focus above Wheelbarrow Falls, they ended up in the drink and chose to save their packs over their canoe (packs were not secured to canoe). Canoe went down the falls, got caught up in rocks, but they were able to pull it out. They are rattled, but in good spirits and happy to be ok. They are just climbing out of the tent, sorting through wet gear, and haven't had breakfast yet. They weren't due to be back at Mudro for another two days, but planed to go all the way back to Mudro once they got their gear packed up that morning...but maybe they would stop somewhere on Horse or further along. They came in from the Basswood side, and have not been out the Horse River before - and you realize how hard that will be with a busted up canoe that is held together by duct tape. They don't realize the challenge in front of them. Their outfitter does not know what happened to them, and won't know to pick them up early. You have a smart phone, but messages aren't able to be sent from your location. Time is ticking, and you have that whole very long slog in front of you with four kids in tow. Yet here are two very nice guys obviously in need of a hand.
Everyone turns to you, "what next?"
What would you do?
Bonus What Would You Do: If you were those guys in that moment, and could only save one, would you choose to save your gear or your canoe, and why?

I would give them advice and would warn them of how hard their plans are suggest they base camp instead. I would then and ask them if they want me to contact there outfitter when we get out. Then I would wish them well and get moving.

I would fire up my Garmin InReach unit and text or email the my outfitter because I would have their number and email address. They could contact the outfitter of the two people with the banana boat and maybe get back to me with further instructions. I would give this two hours and then I would be on my way. Then when I got out I would notify their outfitter.

If they are at Basswood Falls they could return by the way of Fall Lake. Once they get to the motor area of the lake they should have cell signal and could arrange a tow from a Outfitter. There also would be some boat traffic and most people would help out if needed. If needed they could break up and the good canoe could be used to get help. Out side of some big water getting out would be much easier than trying to travel out the Horse River.

Carl

Canoearoo: "I would give them advice and would warn them of how hard their plans are suggest they base camp instead. I would then and ask them if they want me to contact there outfitter when we get out. Then I would wish them well and get moving."

+1

Speckled: "

Canoearoo: "I would give them advice and would warn them of how hard their plans are suggest they base camp instead. I would then and ask them if they want me to contact there outfitter when we get out. Then I would wish them well and get moving."

+1"

+2, and I’ll address the bonus as well. I will always save the canoe in this situation. If it’s a choice between canoe and packs, the boat will be saved every time. The packs will live. Unless they were packed wrong, they should float and can be recovered later. The most important pieces of equipment on my trips are PFD’s and the canoe. Everything else comes second.

Tony

I'd definitely save the canoe over the gear. You'll eventually find the gear, but you can't travel without a canoe.

I'd urge them to stay put and contact their outfitter ASAP. I carry an InReach so I could get a message to their outfitter relatively quickly and get a response back to them on the status and further instructions. I may not have their outfitter info readily available but I would reach out to one of my contacts and have them handle communications.

I don't know that area so I can't speak to the quickest or safest way out at the moment, I would look at my maps and GPS if I were on location (or had more time right now).

GopherAdventure: "

Speckled: "

Canoearoo: "I would give them advice and would warn them of how hard their plans are suggest they base camp instead. I would then and ask them if they want me to contact there outfitter when we get out. Then I would wish them well and get moving."

+1"

+2, and I’ll address the bonus as well. I will always save the canoe in this situation. If it’s a choice between canoe and packs, the boat will be saved every time. The packs will live. Unless they were packed wrong, they should float and can be recovered later. The most important pieces of equipment on my trips are PFD’s and the canoe. Everything else comes second.


Tony"

I find myself aligning with these two thought processes.

JW

Following up on the OP's intention for these, here is what we did:
At the time, I did not have an InReach or SpotX.
I dug in my pack and gave them our roll of duct tape to help shore up their efforts. I recommended using cordage to wrap around the outside of the hull to help hold it in shape.
I took pictures of the canoe and insignia so I would remember the outfitter.
We jotted down their names, I joked "maybe I should take your pictures also?"
I mentioned the difficulty of the Horse River at that moment, suggested to tie a long lead rope on to the canoe to help pull it up through the rapids on the way, and suggested they try to camp somewhere on their way out.
I agreed to call the outfitter and let them know they would be coming out early, probably tomorrow. We bid them good luck and set off.
That evening I called the outfitter and relayed the message. The next morning, while at a service station, I saw them pull up and we shared a good laugh. Later that morning we saw them again over breakfast...and joked about how we were apparently supposed to cross paths for some reason. Alls well that ends well.
Oh - and on my bonus question - I think I would try to save the canoe first. The thought of that choice had not occurred to me before.