An Ontario teen is vowing not to go on any more “adventures," after he was stranded for four hours in the midst of cracking ice on Lake Simcoe.

Justin Copan, 14, had embarked, alone, on an afternoon walk across the frozen surface of Lake Simcoe to Fox Island east of Innisfil, Ont. He was walking home, in the dark, when the lake ice around him started to crack. Thinking fast, the boy said he laid flat on the ice and used his cellphone to call 911.

"We did have phone contact, but he was disoriented. He wasn't sure where he was and what he was looking at," Innisfil Deputy Fire Chief Tom Raeburn told CTV Toronto, explaining why it took emergency responders some time to find the teen.

“Where abouts are you?” the emergency dispatcher can be heard asking Copan during the 9-1-1 call.

“Right in the centre,” Copan replied.

“The centre of what ice?”

“Lake Simcoe,” he answered.

Police, fire and rescue teams used an airboat and snowmobiles, searching the frozen lake for signs of the boy in the pitch dark and blowing snow.

“You can see a big white light? Can you see a blue rotating light?” the 9-1-1 dispatcher asked as rescue crews arrived at the scene.

“Yeah, yeah,” Copan replied.

Earlier on Thursday, before Copan became stranded, police were warning people in the area to stay off the ice due to a recent period of warmer temperatures that left ice in many areas not thick enough to support a person’s weight.

It took rescuers more than an hour after arriving on scene to find Copan, even with him using his cellphone light as a beacon.

"Indications are he was not dressed for the weather. No gloves, no hat, he didn't wear a coat," Raeburn said.

Copan's father, Gerald, told CTV Toronto he's relieved to have his son back. "He just decided to go on an adventure without notifying us. Had he not have had a cellphone that was given to him yesterday, we would never have known where he was."

The rescued boy said he won't be going on any more "adventures," and warned others to "bring a compass and bring your parents, or a friend," if planning something similar.

Police also advised anyone thinking of taking a walk on the ice to tell someone before leaving, bring a cellphone and wear warm clothing.

With files from CTV Toronto's Calvin To.