skull on Kancamagus

For avid readers of the Trail Conditions reports, here is the answer as to whose skull it was:
http://www.theunionleader.com/Articles_show.html?article=37686&archive=1

Maybe the guy on a "treasure hunt" will now feel free to tell us more:
http://www.theunionleader.com/Articles_show.html?article=37351&archive=1

Does anyone else find this stuff creepy? Seems like lots of people are lost to the woods every year. Some lady was found in a marsh? How the heck did she end up there?

Percious, the 20yr old that was found in the marsh (manchester, NH) was last seen arguing with a man outside a bar. I heard tat her body was most likely dumped there.

I know I'm generalizing (perhaps incorrectly) but it seems that when people have really made up their mind to commit suicide, they choose a place that is deserted and quiet. Sometimes it turns out that the woods is the place of choice and other times it is in a quiet corner of their own basement.

The woods, corn fields, deserted roadside ditches have always been home to inconvenient corpses.

JohnL

creepy. Hiking around murder victims... creepy.

A moot point, perhaps, but I think it is mostly suicide victims, not murder victims. The woman's body in the marsh in Manchester was not on a popular hiking route, it was in a marsh near a radio antenna on the outskirts of the city. In any case, I have no desire to stumble across a body, either.

post' boy

Nice find. It might have freaked you out some, but it will I'm sure bring eventual FINAL peace to the family of the guy.

As an aside, In my real life I am Death Investigator for a large Medical Examiners office in western NY. I can tell you that, while your discovery is probalby quite dramatic to you, it is not altogether an unusual story. Hikers and Hunters account for a significant number of the "discovered remains" that our found in this country. In fact, in our area, we view the fall as "bone season" because of the inevitable discovery of human remains found every year by hunters.

I'm sure the remotness lent itself to the larger then usual period of time between the incident and discovery.

Very impressive indeed. Like I said, your discovery will very likely close a painful chapter for the family. Also, I'm very impressed with you're presence of mind to mark and locate the sight after getting that terrible shock.

postr boy,

Of course I knew it was you, you signed the Trail Conditions

I don't care about the exact spot, but a lot of us were curious how it happened and you told us. If I had seen a human skull, I might have had a heart attack and the next guy would have found 2

now that's something you'll never forget!

very interesting! a story you will tell for years. skull/bones wouldn't bother me much but finding a corpse sure would creep me out. they say there's people who went missing in the daks and have never been found - so you never know!
watch your step & listen for those whispers in the wind right before nightfall !

Talk about finding a needle in a haystack....twice!!

post'r boy said:

if i had known there was no cannister on the summit i more than likely would have never even looked as hard as i did to try and find it,hence the probability of me finding the skull would've been nil. all the best! wanna go whackin'?

Click to expand...

Cannisters come & go, there was certainly a glass jar when I was last there but their lifetime can be short. The summit is very flat, such that a helipad was cut there in the '60s under some FS program to improve fire access, so for years the summit could be identified by the patch of little trees which of course aren't so little any more.

And after reading of your Carrigain-Hancock adventure last November, if I tried to keep up with you more than just my skull would be left in the woods

once again a hell of a tale (a true one!!) brought back by ospreyboya! yeah i'd 'a mussed my skivvies too if i'd 'a found a skull. one creepy whack fo' sho'! but like another dude said, it'll give whoever's head it is (or was) some peace of mind now when they identify whose it was. still, glad it was ospreyboya and not me this time!

Some years ago I found three cannisters of various description on Kancamagus. Didn't find any remains, luckily. Some decent soul has begun plantling PVC register jars rather than peanut butter on NH 100 summits. found one each on the Longs this weekend.

On the whole probably a good idea; there seem to be many near summit knobs with registers placed by hikers who prematurely decided the register had been removed.

About 5 years ago I spent most of an hour on the unfortunately flat and relatively thick summit of West Dorset with no hint of a canister. there were the remains of what appeared to be an old trail to near the summit.

This is the only off trail Vermont 3000 footer where I have been unable to locate a register.

Picking up on the Union Leader article of lost hikers that were never found, there was a hiker lost in Baxter Park over 30 years ago. I think his name was Bud Aldrich, he was in his 80's when he left his nursing home to go somewhere he preferred to die and was last seen at Roaring Brook, I think it was.

Park rangers conducted a difficult and extensive search to no avail. One report said that if he hadn't been dead when they found him, he would soon be after what he put the searchers through. Gotta love that Down East humor.

Merely being curious now but must wonder about choosing a place to die. Would one select the Klondike where remains would remain known only to God or some lovely vantage point hidden among the boulders off some scenic ridge where bleached bones might one day be discovered?

Stan is right, as usual. Augustus Aldrich disappeared in Baxter in July 1974. In a tragic twist, I believe Aldrich's nephew or cousin actually died later that month while searching for him.

el-bagr is right that Stan is right Hollister Kent, nephew of Augustus Aldrich, died of an apparent heart attack near Dry Pond on his way to Chimney Pond to join in the search for his uncle.

Postrboy
You shoulda kept your mouth shut and had a great souvenier