Hikers Discover The Shocking Truth About November In The Mountains

It gets cold.

"Hikers" Rescued From Mount Chocorua

Was just about to post the same and discovered you had beaten me to it.

Looks like poorly prepared beginners...

Doug

Has anyone found a report that indicates why a conservation officer needed to walk in and bring them out? I've been cold bunches of times, and my usual response is "F this, I'm going home", which since it usually involves walking down the same trail I just walked up, isn't something I need assistance with.

Fish and Game hasn't posted a report yet. I will not be surprised to learn that adequate illumination was lacking ...

The article does mention mild hypothermia. Obviously it's foolish to speculate about specifics in this case based on one news report, but here I go anyway. One of the ways hypothermia can manifest is as a general misery and abject apathy. A victim can fully understand that he is cold and needs to do something about it, but still stubbornly refuse to bestir himself. (Imagine a stubborn drunk crossed with a two-year-old: I don't wanna put on my jacket!) Assuming they had sleeping bags, these two might not have wanted to get out of the bags no matter how the necessity was explained over the phone. Motivating them in person (or just giving them a hot drink) might have been necessary.

Though I suspect there's also an organizational/policy element: nobody wants to be the one to tell a grieving parent, "she sounded fine over the phone." Once a call is made, I expect somebody will go and check out the situation.

Also, when you see "officers escorted hikers to trailhead", sometimes that means "hikers were on their way down and officers crossed paths with them when they had half a mile to go." Three miles up the piper trail, and they were back at the trailhead three and a half hours after making the phone call (presumably having packed up their gear)? That could be either a ranger racing up the trail at and hurrying them down at a nearly 2mph round-trip average, or a slow, frightened descent in the dark at a little worse than 1 mph.

So fast forward to January 1st. Does the rescue card cover this event? . Were they reckless, negligent or incompetent? From the limited reports, sounds like poor equipment, inexperience, poor judgment. No information that alcohol was involved.

My speculation is F&G would want to publicize the card so if they didn't have one, they would get billed and the fact they would be getting billed would be quite prominent in the F&G report.

I sincerely hope F&G does publicize the hell out of this incident. I doubt anyone would consider these "hikers" to be deliberately reckless, but their lack of research and preparation shouts "negligence all over the place. Charging them for F&G costs seems quite right, unless there is further evidence as yet unknown.

Unfortunately, all the good efforts at educating the tourists so they can learn to be hikers don't reach everyone. A rescue insurance card with the proceeds paying for that outreach as well as SAR costs would be popular as well as making more rescues unnecessary. Well-blazed trails and free or cheap maps at trailheads are proven to mostly prevent tourists from getting lost.

Creag Nan Drochaid said:

I sincerely hope F&G does publicize the hell out of this incident. I doubt anyone would consider these "hikers" to be deliberately reckless, but their lack of research and preparation shouts "negligence all over the place.

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Yeah, and let's face it-- shoulder season has a strong effect like this, since Boston and Portland can be significantly warmer and less snowy than the mountains. I'll admit to doing something like this every single October or November since 2007, heading for a hike where I'm sure there's no more than a dusting of snow and finding, oops, I should have brought my spikes and snow gear. The effect is probably stronger with people who aren't as used to the huge difference a few hours drive and a thousand feet elevation makes.

sardog1 said:

Fish and Game hasn't posted a report yet. I will not be surprised to learn that adequate illumination was lacking ...

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Yeah, that's my guess too. They were cold, freaking out a bit from that, and had no light, so they felt in over their heads (which they were). I also wonder if they will be charged--are there different fee scales? My sense is that this wasn't a huge cost/dangerous effort on the part of the rescue crew, thank goodness. So maybe there is a lesser charge for lesser rescues, which could certainly still act as a deterrent for being ill-prepared?

I did not read the endless threads or the law(s) that were passed. But will there be information about 'the card' at every trail head? OR dare I suggest, I way to purchase one on the spot?

These types of happenings infuriate me. I enjoy the freedom the hills bring and each time some azz does something stupid it brings us all closer and closer to increased regulation. I'm glad they were "ok" and "rescued" (not that it seems they needed to be rescued!!). People like these should be banned or trespassed from future trails.

sardog1 said:

Fish and Game hasn't posted a report yet. I will not be surprised to learn that adequate illumination was lacking ...

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Could be. I was trying to avoid speculating too much. Since the story says that they intended to stay overnight, that would seem an obvious piece of gear. I see why day-hikers frequently omit/forget lights, but if you're planning to stay overnight when the sun goes down at 4PM, how could lights not be on the list?

It also says the conservation officer met them, but it's unclear whether that was at the shelter, halfway up the trail, or at the bottom.

Clearly negligence played a part in this event. Without knowing the facts, I'll speculate based on the face value of the rescue. At the very least they were not prepared for cold temps and a night out. It's clear that winter conditions are here, I was just in the mountains, it does not feel like spring anywhere. If you figure that they were only 2 hours from the road and still needed help on a trail that is easy to follow even at night. Open face shelter's are to me, very misleading to beginner's. They are very cold and I would much rather use a tent then a open face shelter in the winter, they are prone to be windy and have snow in them, not ideal in my mind.

BISCUT said:

These types of happenings infuriate me. I enjoy the freedom the hills bring and each time some azz does something stupid it brings us all closer and closer to increased regulation. I'm glad they were "ok" and "rescued" (not that it seems they needed to be rescued!!). People like these should be banned or trespassed from future trails.

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Just a couple of early twenty something males from Boston charged up on testosterone. Big surprise! Give 'em a break. We all have to start off somewhere. Flogging these types IMO is futile. Although if this had been 15 years ago before cell phones they would had at least had to have been self reliant and walked away learning something.

skiguy said:

Just a couple of early twenty something males from Boston charged up on testosterone. Big surprise! Give 'em a break. We all have to start off somewhere. Flogging these types IMO is futile. Although if this had been 15 years ago before cell phones they would had at least had to have been self reliant and walked away learning something.

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I believe that Stephanie is probably not a twenty something male from Boston.

jcarter said:

i believe that stephanie is probably not a twenty something male from boston.

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lmao...........!

BISCUT said:

These types of happenings infuriate me. I enjoy the freedom the hills bring and each time some azz does something stupid it brings us all closer and closer to increased regulation. I'm glad they were "ok" and "rescued" (not that it seems they needed to be rescued!!). People like these should be banned or trespassed from future trails.

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I would not let this type of situation infuriate you at all. This in fact, is very commen in the Whites and situations such as this have happped and will continue to happen. The Whites are very close to major population zones and the hordes from the south are mere hours away. Unfortunately, the Whites bless them, are small but mighty. The weather, the temps and the storms are quite unpredicatble and harsh. Throw in some people with little experience and you have a recipe for mishaps. This is just the formula and we all have to live with it. I personally don't fault people who find themselves in situations like this one. They just dont know what many experienced hikers do. Hopefully most will suffer a little, then learn. My first few years, I was lucky to survive, glass houses, you know. Fish and Game and Mountain Rescue, take this stuff in stride. Hike safe and other initiatives, all try to mitigate these re-occurring themes, but at the end of the day, you cant keep everyone safe. Just the nature of the beast.

skiguy said:

Flogging these types IMO is futile.

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That's for sure. It's in the same league as old men yelling at clouds, but a very popular pastime for some reason.

Someday, the state of NH may evolve and accept the costs of rescuing the occasionally ill prepared hiking party or individual as part of the cost of having a partially tourist/recreational based economy.

But today is not that day. Tomorrow isn't looking so good either.

all 911 calls need to be checked out, cause if not, and they froze, who's at fault then...

sardog1 said:

Fish and Game hasn't posted a report yet. I will not be surprised to learn that adequate illumination was lacking ...

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I personally would have to assume they had light of some sort. Maybe not headlamps but even that sounds far fetched to me for someone on an overnight. But perhaps they just had battery or candle camp lamps without a focused beam. Not too good to navigate trails with. Cold and afraid to move from where they were would my guess. But there is a good sized fire-ring in front of that shelter. With any experience and or preparedness at all, they should have been able to get a good sized fire going. Which all boils down to inexperience and unpreparedness.