Pinkham (PNVC) today.....looked like rescue practice of some kind?

Becca M · Nov 30, 2013

Hi! Just wondering - I was at Pinkham today, mid-afternoon and it looked like there were quite a few F&G trucks. There were also a couple trucks at the auto road and a couple guys gearing up. I thought I heard a chopper but it could have been noise distortion from snowmaking at Wildcat....

Any chance there was a rescue or maybe regular practice of some kind? I searched WMUR and didn't find anything.

sardog1 · Nov 30, 2013

I doubt they'd schedule a drill in the midst of deer season. If it was some rescue mission, some info might be posted later at their Newsroom page.

EDIT: Yep, the real deal, with a good outcome - http://nhpr.org/post/search-underway-solo-hiker-presidentials

kerry13 · Dec 1, 2013

Must have been a very chilly night. Glad to hear he made it out on his own.

Raven · Dec 1, 2013

http://nhpr.org/post/lost-presidentials-solo-hikers-saga

This link appears to work.

Edit: it's good this turned out well. I wonder if he knew about (couldn't find?) the emergency shelter at LOC since he seems to have become lost right near the hut.

TJsName · Dec 1, 2013

Looks like Brian02108 caught pictures of the chopper in his trip report (if you follow his link).

Becca M · Dec 1, 2013

ah - makes sense! Thanks for posting the link!!!!

They mentioned the Dry River Drainage..... having no official trail (opened anyway) in there seems like such a big mistake.

Woody · Dec 1, 2013

My son and I were climbing Left Gully in Tuckerman Ravine yesterday and we saw the Army chopper circling overhead. They were flying around for quite a while. We assumed there was some kind of rescue going on. Glad this hiker is OK.

Tom_Murphy · Dec 2, 2013

I am unhappy to see the NH F&G saying he should not have been solo on a winter hike.

Sounds like he couldn't make a fire. That doesn't surprise me; I practice making a fire on most winter hikes and have failed many more times than I have succeed.

When benighted in cold weather, you need adequate insulation to shelter in place or be fit enough to keep moving. Counting on being able to light and maintain a wood fire is sketchy.

lamerunner · Dec 2, 2013

Glad to hear a good outcome! I was hiking Widcat D, via Polecat, and saw an Army helicopter flying around near the ravines.

Kevin Rooney · Dec 2, 2013

Tom_Murphy said:
I am unhappy to see the NH F&G saying he should not have been solo on a winter hike.

Yes. Two or three can get lost, nearly as easily as one.

sardog1 · Dec 2, 2013

Making a fire when the woods are wet is a life-saving skill that too many LNT hikers know little about accomplishing. You need a knife with a substantial blade and the right technique. Here's a good guide: How To Make A Feather Stick For Fire Lighting

Becca M · Dec 2, 2013

What about a lighter - small and light... I *always* have one.... (in my car, along with my SPOT, extra clothes, down jacket.... D'Oh!)

TJsName · Dec 2, 2013

sardog1 said:
Making a fire when the woods are wet is a life-saving skill that too many LNT hikers know little about accomplishing. You need a knife with a substantial blade and the right technique. Here's a good guide: How To Make A Feather Stick For Fire Lighting

A stove can be very helpful for getting a fire going too, as it give you the ability to really get a flame going. Note: don't put your canister in the fire pit. A cat stove you probably could though.

DayTrip · Dec 2, 2013

On the winter fire lighting issue my question has always been what do you burn when everything is buried in snow? I always have 5-6 different ways to light a fire with me but it seems like there would be an enormous amount of energy expended snapping little twigs, collecting tiny dead branches and scavenging enough "fuel" to maintain a fire large enough to actually get warmth from, especially for any extended period of time. Wouldn't the effort be better spent creating a warm shelter of some sort to augment what you carry on you (emergency sack, z-fold, etc) or simply continuing to walk if not injured and sure of direction?

Anyone out there get stuck building an emergency fire in winter? How did you accomplish and keep it going until daylight?

sardog1 · Dec 2, 2013

If you're going to spend an unplanned night in the winter woods and you didn't bring a sleeping bag, your four choices for staying alive are:

1. Walk until you get "there" (or drop along the way …)

2. Dance your way through the night

3. Construct a snow shelter in the form of a trench with snow-covered boughs over the top for a roof and boughs on the bottom for a floor. Forget about making a quinzhee unless you have the equivalent of the Donner Party available for labor. Forget about digging a snow cave in the Northeast unless you're on the right hill in the Presidential Range.

4. Build a fire from standing dead wood, having READ the feather stick link I posted and practiced the technique ahead of time.

Having an ignition source isn't enough. I used to love cruelly demonstrating this fact to students by limiting them to one match. Having the right tinder and kindling is vital, as in vital to your continued existence.

erugs · Dec 2, 2013

Becca M said:
ah - makes sense! Thanks for posting the link!!!!

They mentioned the Dry River Drainage..... having no official trail (opened anyway) in there seems like such a big mistake.

Becca is so right about this area needing a good trail a) because of the numbers of people who get blown off into that direction. Isn't it considered the "Bermuda Triangle" of the Presis? and b) what a wild area. (I know, the costs are prohibitive, manpower is short, etc.)

Additionally, I was surprised that I only saw info on this from NHPR and not a leading story on the Union Leader.

sierra · Dec 2, 2013

I can make a fire in almost any situation, if there is fuel available. I first make a ignition source of material about the size of my hand. Then use sticks the size of candles, then finger size, then bigger if I can get them. I also get all my wood before lighting the fire and set everything up and ready. On snow you need a base of some kind or your fire will put itself out. Also a windbreak is critical to both starting and conserving fuel. I carry a small waterproof container filled with about 20 REI storm matches and scratch pads in there as well. I have a bic in my first aid kit as a back-up. Good tinder material, birch bark, sap, lichen, money.

RoySwkr · Dec 3, 2013

> What about a lighter - small and light... I *always* have one....

I hope it has a metal case. If you get a spark on a plastic lighter or drop it into the fire you can have a big explosion fast.

> Anyone out there get stuck building an emergency fire in winter?
> How did you accomplish and keep it going until daylight?

I have built fires when I was too tired to walk for awhile, didn't need to keep them going all night as after resting awhile I could walk further.

The difference between this situation and an injury is that I could pick a spot where plenty of tinder was available, one time I filled my pack with birch bark in case I needed another fire later but I didn't so friend with wood stove lucked out.

hikerbrian · Dec 3, 2013

DayTrip said:
Anyone out there get stuck building an emergency fire in winter? How did you accomplish and keep it going until daylight?

Helluva good question; so good, in fact, that I'm going to start a separate discussion on that very topic.

hikerbrian · Dec 3, 2013

sardog1 said:
If you're going to spend an unplanned night in the winter woods and you didn't bring a sleeping bag, your four choices for staying alive are:

1. Walk until you get "there" (or drop along the way …)

2. Dance your way through the night

3. Construct a snow shelter in the form of a trench with snow-covered boughs over the top for a roof and boughs on the bottom for a floor. Forget about making a quinzhee unless you have the equivalent of the Donner Party available for labor. Forget about digging a snow cave in the Northeast unless you're on the right hill in the Presidential Range.

4. Build a fire from standing dead wood, having READ the feather stick link I posted and practiced the technique ahead of time.

Having an ignition source isn't enough. I used to love cruelly demonstrating this fact to students by limiting them to one match. Having the right tinder and kindling is vital, as in vital to your continued existence.

There's at least one other option, and it's the one I believe has the most versatility and the greatest probability of success: carry some kind of shelter that is light weight and easy to set up for a group of people. A Mega Light is a good option - under 3 lbs, easily fits four, 8 or more in a pinch. Above treeline, a group can deploy it in seconds and simply huddle inside to evalute a given situation. Below treeline, you can make it very comfortably in a short amount of time. With that, a couple of closed cell foam pads, and everyones' standard winter kit (including a big puffy jacket), a group has a good chance in most conditions. Speaking for myself, if I were counting on a fire to survive a night out, I'd consider myself unprepared.

Pinkham (PNVC) today.....looked like rescue practice of some kind?

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