New Hampshire Fish and Game Press Release:
Special thanks to the Folks at the Cog for the help!
PRESS RELEASE
June 22, 2019
Cog Railway Assists in Evacuating Injured Hiker
Thompson & Meserves Purchase – At approximately 6:00 p.m., a call was received by Fish and Game reporting that a hiker on the Jewell Trail had suffered an injury to his back and was not able to continue. The hiker, identified as Michael Couch, 46 of Atlanta, IN is an amputee who was attempting to hike to the summit of Mt. Washington as an effort to raise money for his foundation: Lost Limbs Foundation.
Couch had made it to a location near the junction with Jewell Trail and Gulfside Trail when the injury occurred. The GPS coordinates placed him 1 ½ miles from the summit of Mt. Washington and approximately 3 miles from the Base Station.
Knowing that a carryout was going to be arduous no matter what route was taken, a call for Search & Rescue volunteers was made and several members from both the Pemigewassett Valley Search & Rescue (PEMI SAR) and Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue (AVSAR), responded. “Carrying an injured person is far more taxing going uphill than going down, so the plan was to carry Couch down the Jewell Trail,” said Fish & Game Lieutenant Mark Ober. “However seeing that the Cog Railway tracks were about ½ mile from the injured hiker, I decided to make a call to inquire about the possibility of mechanical assistance. Little did he know that the Cog Railway was in the middle of their 150th Anniversary celebration.
“Wayne Presby and his staff didn’t hesitate a bit when I called and asked if it was possibility to use one of the Cog trains to rescue this hiker,” said Lt. Ober. “Even with all they had going on as part of their 150th Anniversary, I briefed them on the situation and they located an engineer and brakeman and within an hour the train was taking up a crew of rescuers.” “Having the ability to utilize machinery to assist in a Search and Rescue is a luxury that is almost never available, so when this situation presented itself we were extremely lucky to have the ability to request assistance from the COG and have them respond so quickly. I can’t thank them enough for their willingness to help in this situation.”
The train departed the base station at approximately 7:00 p.m. and dropped off the rescuers at 7:53 p.m. The hiker was packaged in the litter and back to the train by 8:45 p.m. From there he was brought down on the train to the Base Station arriving at approximately 9:15 p.m.
Special thanks to the Folks at the Cog for the help!
PRESS RELEASE
June 22, 2019
Cog Railway Assists in Evacuating Injured Hiker
Thompson & Meserves Purchase – At approximately 6:00 p.m., a call was received by Fish and Game reporting that a hiker on the Jewell Trail had suffered an injury to his back and was not able to continue. The hiker, identified as Michael Couch, 46 of Atlanta, IN is an amputee who was attempting to hike to the summit of Mt. Washington as an effort to raise money for his foundation: Lost Limbs Foundation.
Couch had made it to a location near the junction with Jewell Trail and Gulfside Trail when the injury occurred. The GPS coordinates placed him 1 ½ miles from the summit of Mt. Washington and approximately 3 miles from the Base Station.
Knowing that a carryout was going to be arduous no matter what route was taken, a call for Search & Rescue volunteers was made and several members from both the Pemigewassett Valley Search & Rescue (PEMI SAR) and Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue (AVSAR), responded. “Carrying an injured person is far more taxing going uphill than going down, so the plan was to carry Couch down the Jewell Trail,” said Fish & Game Lieutenant Mark Ober. “However seeing that the Cog Railway tracks were about ½ mile from the injured hiker, I decided to make a call to inquire about the possibility of mechanical assistance. Little did he know that the Cog Railway was in the middle of their 150th Anniversary celebration.
“Wayne Presby and his staff didn’t hesitate a bit when I called and asked if it was possibility to use one of the Cog trains to rescue this hiker,” said Lt. Ober. “Even with all they had going on as part of their 150th Anniversary, I briefed them on the situation and they located an engineer and brakeman and within an hour the train was taking up a crew of rescuers.” “Having the ability to utilize machinery to assist in a Search and Rescue is a luxury that is almost never available, so when this situation presented itself we were extremely lucky to have the ability to request assistance from the COG and have them respond so quickly. I can’t thank them enough for their willingness to help in this situation.”
The train departed the base station at approximately 7:00 p.m. and dropped off the rescuers at 7:53 p.m. The hiker was packaged in the litter and back to the train by 8:45 p.m. From there he was brought down on the train to the Base Station arriving at approximately 9:15 p.m.