"Live" Rescue On Facebook: Hiker Lost On Lafayette

My compass is attached to my pack straps or around my neck...I'm one that tends to avoid situations that will kill me, so high wind forecasts are a no go or I choose to hike in a sheltered area, below treeline. Helived, he could have done things differently, but climbing.g up Lafayette, how often would someone turn around to look at bad weather approaching? Or would the bad weather approach from the Pemi side? One wouldn't see it anyway until it wrapped around the mountain. He lived so he had enough gear with him to survive, which many people don't have with them.

But yeah, it's been drilled in my head to get below treeline in bad weather. Coming off the summit, usually following a generally westward direction brings you to the area of the hut. I use Gaia app and download the map of an area that's new to me. At yhevery least it's good to show me where I am and canusemy map and compass from there to point me in the correct direction. Never thought to fold my map to the area I'm hiking, but I'm not going to put myself in the situation where my map is going to blow away.

nartreb said:

Terrain problems are part of what people mean when they say a map & compass are not much use in horrible visibility. Generally, the terrain features you need to be aware of are too small for the map. If you can't find the exact spot where the trail hits treeline, you're not just stuck bushwhacking, you have to find your own way through terrain problems. Imagine you're in the ravine south of the Agonies, high up, and the terrain is getting uncomfortably steep. Should you try to go north, south, east or west? You may not be completely sure which ravine you're in, and you almost certainly don't know what part of the ravine you're in.

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Just to expand on that thought though, navigating doesn't always mean there are 2 points to connect but maybe 4,5,6 or more points, which I think baffled many on Facebook. Terrain problems are part of knowing where you are and, therefore, knowing where you can't go. Just to use this incident as a rough and hypothetical example, wherever this guy was the general direction would be to descend West to the hut, A to B. But due to the terrain, that may involve traveling NW for roughly a 1/4 mile to avoid that cliff area (A), then SW for 1/4 mile to get back in line with the gap in scrub (B), than maybe SW again after scrub to the ponds near the hut to avoid the difficult or impossible terrain (C), etc. This is not a failing of navigating by map and compass. It is a function of the difficulty of the terrain. Many on Facebook made the direct correlation that tough terrain meant map and compass was useless. You'd have basically the same issues using a GPS and waypoints if you had them, albeit with some advantages (knowing the elevation, seeing your track on the map, etc). You still have to walk through the difficult terrain in poor visibility no matter how advanced your navigation equipment is.

If anyone assumed I meant descending the pemi was an escape route, I did not mean that. What I meant is that in a howling wind, almost no one walks into the wind. He figured it out by staying where he was confident he would be found and had the gear to execute his plan.

From the initial FB report, it sounded like he was above treeline but had turned back, I had the correlation that he was closer to the treeline than the summit. The F&G report would seem to say he was closer to the summit than treeline.

The trail does make enough turns above treeline and has stellar views so a look back isn't too painful.

This has been some good discussion on navigating in bad weather. One point that stuck me in regards to this incident, is the panic factor. I'm not even sure it came into play, but its possible. If you've ever been lost in the Wilderness and I have, adrenaline spikes at the moment you realize your lost. Its important to stop, regroup and gain your composure before making any more decisions. Throw in some extreme weather you have a recipe for trouble. Take someone with limited field experience, it can be overwhelming to the point of making no progress or even worse, the wrong progress.

DayTrip said:

Just to expand on that thought though, navigating doesn't always mean there are 2 points to connect but maybe 4,5,6 or more points, which I think baffled many on Facebook. Terrain problems are part of knowing where you are and, therefore, knowing where you can't go. Just to use this incident as a rough and hypothetical example, wherever this guy was the general direction would be to descend West to the hut, A to B. But due to the terrain, that may involve traveling NW for roughly a 1/4 mile to avoid that cliff area (A), then SW for 1/4 mile to get back in line with the gap in scrub (B), than maybe SW again after scrub to the ponds near the hut to avoid the difficult or impossible terrain (C), etc. This is not a failing of navigating by map and compass. It is a function of the difficulty of the terrain. Many on Facebook made the direct correlation that tough terrain meant map and compass was useless. You'd have basically the same issues using a GPS and waypoints if you had them, albeit with some advantages (knowing the elevation, seeing your track on the map, etc). You still have to walk through the difficult terrain in poor visibility no matter how advanced your navigation equipment is.

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Correct. You in effect need to be dropping waypoints - generally by writing down bearings and rough distances. If I expect to do this I'll print a custom map at a largely expanded scale, so even if the terrain problems or major trail curves aren't visible on the map, I can draw them in as I find them. This is still not easy - you simply can't accurately render every zigzag in the trail, so there's a bit of a guessing game between looking for cairns and following your compass. And estimating your distance travelled based on time elapsed is usually wildly inaccurate on difficult terrain.

Anyway, the only way to succeed at this is to use your map and compass on your way up, *before* you lose visibility, so you can mark your bearings and confirm your location. (Most hikers don't actually do this, and it's clear this one didn't. ) Once you're unsure of your location, it's almost impossible to avoid the terrain problems, because you won't see them.

This is about fifty feet of visibility: https://www.davidalbeck.com/photos/2006/lafayette_feb06/i10.jpg There's a cairn in the photo, on the right. In these conditions, your footprints last about one minute, and new drifts tend to make your progress, even along a smooth trail, very difficult.


For anyone looking for tips for gear arrangement: my compass is girth-hitched to my belt (not hung around my neck, had a bad experience on a bushwhack once) and stored in a zipped pocket alongside my map, and I don't keep anything else in that pocket. I've not yet lost a map to the wind, though I've had some close calls. For that reason I usually avoid large folding maps and print smaller maps instead (which I carry in a sealed plastic bag). In an unfamiliar area I may carry a spare map. Tying the map to myself is something I hadn't thought of, but I should probably start doing that.

nartreb said:

Anyway, the only way to succeed at this is to use your map and compass on your way up, *before* you lose visibility, so you can mark your bearings and confirm your location. (Most hikers don't actually do this, and it's clear this one didn't. ) Once you're unsure of your location, it's almost impossible to avoid the terrain problems, because you won't see them.

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This is the "duh" moment no one seemed to get on Facebook. You don't just walk around until you're lost and then try to figure out where you are. You keep track of where you are at all times so you don't get lost. It was amazing how few people were getting that concept. And I agree, even the cautious among us don't go so far as to right down any kind of notes or bearings as they go most of the time. I have to admit I don't. I always have a detailed, note riddled map in my pocket with pre-plotted bearings for landmarks,etc but normally use GPS waypoints as my "notes" as I go.

P.S. Cool picture!

Lots of good info in this thread. In addition to way pointing I am a proponent of handrails. As mentioned diligent studying of the guide and the map before a hike is pertinent. In addition to understanding terrain changes and not being able to go directly from point A to B in a straight line being able to navigate using that terrain is critical. Simply diving directly for tree line could be very disadvantageous. For example the hiker whom got lost in a whiteout last year on The Ammo started heading over 90 degrees in the wrong direction from the trail into a unconsolidated ravine. Had they understood the terrain and used the handrail, a well defined waterway located in the opposite direction of where they went chances of finding the trail again would have been much more likely. This goes hand and hand as already mentioned in understanding where one is at all times.

skiguy said:

Simply diving directly for tree line could be very disadvantageous.

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Yes, this hiker was found and rescued by digging a snow cave next to a cairn above treeline. But there have been much worse outcomes using this strategy on the same ridge; IIRC she died, he had major frostbite injuries.

And yes, moving from the trail can make it more difficult to be found.

Nonetheless, I think the advantages of sheltering from the wind in the trees is critical. I would be headed to the trees even if it meant dropping into the Pemi from the Franconia ridge.

Tom_Murphy said:

Yes, this hiker was found and rescued by digging a snow cave next to a cairn above treeline. But there have been much worse outcomes using this strategy on the same ridge; IIRC she died, he had major frostbite injuries.

And yes, moving from the trail can make it more difficult to be found.

Nonetheless, I think the advantageous of the shelter the treeline provides from the wind is critical. I would be headed to the trees even if it meant dropping into the Pemi from the Franconia ridge.

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I do not disagree with this at all. Although not necessarily the default strategy in every circumstance IMO. As I said “could be”. I have personally spent time in a snow cave multiple times when there was no tree line and at altitude. Knowing the terrain was what was critical in that situation. That said each situation is going to be specific and therefore the appropriate skill set will need to be applied.

Is scrub any better or worse than a good snow cave? I almost think a solid snow cave would be better than scrub, being fully enclosed and "underground" versus a more open pocket in the branches of scrub. Lot of the casual research I did on snow shelters last year made them seem pretty useful (and I mean the basic emergency types not the elaborate ones built on multi-day outings). They tend to have some insulative properties, you can (hopefully) cut the opening opposite the wind, easily mark your location with trekking poles or a light or something for SAR to see, etc. In most cases like this descending to scrub doesn't necessarily do anything except drop some elevation and hopefully get out of the primary wind direction and may even put you in a spot that increases SAR response time. Temperature wise it likely isn't saving more than a few degrees (assuming the old rule of thumb of 2-4 deg F per 1,000 ft - in how many of these cases would you really be able to drop that kind of altitude?). Of course if the snow was not deep enough to dig a full cave that would fully enclose you then I see the necessity of getting to some other form of shelter like scrub. If I ever found myself in that position and could fully execute either a snow cave or scrub shelter I think I'd go with the snow shelter.

Anybody "been there/done that"?

Some random thoughts.

I agree that given the circumstances, staying put behind a cairn in a snow cave/hollow was his best move.

I think one thing that's been missed is the timeline. He states he hit a dead end on the return at 8 am, so had been searching for the trail prior to that. With sunrise at 7:13 AM, he may not have been able to discern bad weather moving in due to darkness.

Personally, *if* I had a compass in that situation, as long as I knew I was below the summit somewhere in the vicinity of Greenleaf Trail, to me it's a simple matter of heading west, staying on the ridge line. Meaning, it there's higher ground to the north or south of me, go in that general direction (e.g., SW or NW) until it starts to slope away again and continue west. That'll land you at the hut. Maybe there's fault in that but I've done enough off-trail ridge walking to think that's sane. Maybe.

I can see a panic factor as well. That's one nasty situation to get into.

Salty said:

I think one thing that's been missed is the timeline. He states he hit a dead end on the return at 8 am, so had been searching for the trail prior to that. With sunrise at 7:13 AM, he may not have been able to discern bad weather moving in due to darkness.
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A fair point but what was the forecast for that day? Should he have been assuming the worst with it being dark, etc.? I have to believe he had indications even before sun up that the weather was not great if it was a full on white out just an hour or so later. I think (don't quote me - I could well be wrong) that he acknowledged he wasn't going to be seeing a sunrise. So maybe at the edge of the scrub take a break, have a snack and wait for some light and a better assessment was in order before proceeding.

DayTrip said:

A fair point but what was the forecast for that day? Should he have been assuming the worst with it being dark, etc.? I have to believe he had indications even before sun up that the weather was not great if it was a full on white out just an hour or so later. I think (don't quote me - I could well be wrong) that he acknowledged he wasn't going to be seeing a sunrise. So maybe at the edge of the scrub take a break, have a snack and wait for some light and a better assessment was in order before proceeding.

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Not sure where to find archived forecasts but this was part of the avalanche forecast from 12/14: "Thursday’s high pressure brought light wind from the south and increasing temperature along with clear skies. As the high departs today, clouds will develop along with increasing wind from the west and increasing temperatures." Makes me think that he should have been aware of changing weather and the winds and clouds that come along with any front.

Remember that the hiker turned around "a few hundred feet below the summit" so all discussions of the Pemi are off the table.

Hell on earth above treeline, go down to treeline. Regroup. Patiently(!) traverse treeline left and right to re-find trail (remember compass has been lost at this point). Lesson - carry backup compass.

Again, the main issue here is not turning around soon enough. Lesson - turn around when you can still get down.

There was a comment on the use of wands earlier in the thread. I have only used wands a couple of times. Mostly before I carried a smart phone with access to a program such as Gaia or a website such as Caltopo or had a GPS with downloaded contours or trail maps. At that time I carried a map, compass and GPS (lat/long or northings/eastings). In a cold, windy, or rainy/snowy conditions it is a pain to transfer coordinates from the GPS and locate yourself on the map. Technology has made it easier to find yourself.

Snowshoed Mount Cardigan in less than optimum conditions before I had the new technology. I was familiar with the West Ridge Trail but had some concern that the weather would cause visibility problems and wipe away my tracks once I was out of the trees and on the semi-open slopes of Cardigan. Brought along 6 wands (bamboo garden stakes with orange flagging). Worked well to just push into the snow. Not so well were the wind had scoured the snow away leaving only ice and exposed ledge. Spent only a minute at the fire tower before heading back down. Just pulled my second wand when I met two snowshoers heading up. They were concerned that I was pulling the trail markings and would not be able to locate the trail on their way back down. Stuck the wand back in and let them lead the way to the summit which was only a minute or two away.

I am more hesitant to use wands since them.

briarpatch said:

I am more hesitant to use wands since them.

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I have always had suspicion of using wands (or flagging tape or other marking material) here in the Whites where there are a lot of people. I would be way too worried that I flagged my route and then some crazy, hardcore LNT type group pulled them out in disgust, or maybe worse someone followed my wands up thinking they're official trail markers and expect them to be there on their way back and they aren't, leading to a calamity. It's one thing when you're out on an expedition in big boy mountains with no trails where you are likely the only people on the route. Here in NH I'd be worried that wands, bright tape, etc would get tampered with and affect my return.

Salty said:

Some random thoughts.

I agree that given the circumstances, staying put behind a cairn in a snow cave/hollow was his best move.

I think one thing that's been missed is the timeline. He states he hit a dead end on the return at 8 am, so had been searching for the trail prior to that. With sunrise at 7:13 AM, he may not have been able to discern bad weather moving in due to darkness.

Personally, *if* I had a compass in that situation, as long as I knew I was below the summit somewhere in the vicinity of Greenleaf Trail, to me it's a simple matter of heading west, staying on the ridge line. Meaning, it there's higher ground to the north or south of me, go in that general direction (e.g., SW or NW) until it starts to slope away again and continue west. That'll land you at the hut. Maybe there's fault in that but I've done enough off-trail ridge walking to think that's sane. Maybe.

I can see a panic factor as well. That's one nasty situation to get into.

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That's a quite reasonable strategy and would probably be my first choice in that exact location (assuming the wind from the west was bearable). Just keep in mind that one strategy is not best for all situations. There are two problem is that you may encounter. The first is "local maxima" - areas where there's a rise to your north or south, but climbing it actually leads you away from your desired route. If you can't see the main ridge, this can get very confusing, and in some areas can lead you way off course and/or to the edge of dangerous cliffs. (one reason I say I'd go for it in "this particular location" is that I know that the ridge from summit to hut is broad and not very branchy or bumpy.) The second is the small-scale terrain problems. You're heading West when suddenly you find a steep section or cliff in front of you. You can't see well enough to be sure how big it is or if it's at all climbable. Maybe you're off course, on some spur ridge. Maybe you're right next to the trail, but on top of a big rock. Maybe you've found the steep spot above the pond. Not the end of the world, back up a bit, move randomly north or south a short distance, try going West again. But it's hard to explain how mentally taxing this can be, especially if you find yourself blocked repeatedly. it's very hard to estimate your net forward progress, or to be sure you're making any.

The two main benefits of descending toward the hut are 1) chance of finding the hut - it's a good windbreak, a positive confirmation of location, and you can probably find the trail from there even in zero visibility. 2) chance of getting below the clouds and the worst of the wind, so visibility improves enough that you can fix your exact location and/or find the trail. If those chances don't pan out, you can still dig in, as long as you keep some strength, body heat, and wits in reserve for that purpose.

Keep in mind that one of the more dangerous spots in the whites (with respect to deaths and rescues)in the winter is right in the neighborhood. There have been several high profile incidents where hikers are attempting to climb Lincoln and possibly on to Lafayette via Falling Waters in windy white out conditions. The hikers generally have the wind at their back and make a poor decision to press on past treeline from Falling Waters up to the summit of Haystack and then on to the Franconia Ridge Trail. Due to the terrain, in windy conditions the winds and whiteout intensifies on that first stretch of ridgeline just past Haystack. The hikers usually press on perpendicular to the wind for too long and get beat up before turning around. They normally can follow the terrain and the FRT initially back to Haystack in high wind and snow conditions but this swings them back to a Westerly direction of travel and usually directly into the wind. By the time they get to Haystack they are not very far from treeline, only 200 feet, yet several folks have been unable to find the entrance back into the woods and the safety of Falling Waters trail and ended up getting lost and stuck in dense deep Krummholz which is where rescuers eventually find their bodies (living or dead). These events have in the past been in forecast worsening conditions where a cautious hiker would have stayed home. Generally its attributed to "summit fever" that hikers press on regardless and rationalize that they can always turn around not realizing that to turn around puts them into having to walk directly into the wind. The general orientation of the Greenleaf trail is similar especially where its swings SW out of the Lafayette Brook drainage. The trail can easily disappear and fill in with snow and the treeline can be indistinct.

I have been with several groups over the years sitting on Haystack during non snow conditions for a break and have pointed out this stretch to treeline and they can not believe that someone could get lost as the trail is screed in and quite obvious. On the other hand when snow is on the ground, this entire area gets featureless, its just a broad relatively flat shoulder that drops down slope. There is no distinct treeline as the snow has filled in over the krummholz so following what is normally a distinct treeline in non snow seasons is an exercise in finding spruce traps rather than a guide to finding the FWT. Add in blowing snow, low visibility and winds and nailing the gap in the trees is quite a challenge. If not for the trench of folks heading up slope from FWT its quite a challenge and more than once in winter it has started drifting in by the time I have gotten to Haystack. If someone wants to experience similar conditions with a lot more safety head up Crawford Path in snow conditions and try to find the actual trail to the summit of Pierce. You will find, depending on snow depth, many apparent routes to the summit long before you actually get to the actual trail to the summit. If the crust is well developed its not an issue but if it isn't, these broad boulevards of snow to the summit are laced with spruce trap landmines.

A problem that folks (except boaters ) dont realize or practice is that compass use in featureless conditions is different than in conditions with visibility. Normally when using a compass the hiker lines up the needle with their body and sights a point at distance and then walks to that point or uses a sighting mirror to lock in a point. In zero visibility the hiker has to follow the needle which is quite difficult to do in windy conditions. One of the old very odd looking scouting map and compass activities would take place in an open field that had been laid out in advance with a large circle of points. The scouts would then put a grocery bag over their head so that they could only look down at their compass. They would start at one point on the diameter of the circle and they would follow a series of bearings to other points of the circle. After a few sets of bearings they would end up at another point on the diameter and they would be judged how close to the actual point they should have ended up on. Its looks odd with kids walking around with grocery bags on their head but it does reinforce following a bearing. Its tougher than you would think, add in winds and I expect in 200 feet someone could easily miss a 10 foot wide slot in the trees.

About the only sure way to find that opening in the trees in these conditions is either wands or to be dependent on technology using a GPS with a solid track loaded into it. Given reduced battery life in winter conditions my preference is to stay home and wait for better weather rather then depending on a battery.

DayTrip said:

I have always had suspicion of using wands (or flagging tape or other marking material) here in the Whites where there are a lot of people. I would be way too worried that I flagged my route and then some crazy, hardcore LNT type group pulled them out in disgust, or maybe worse someone followed my wands up thinking they're official trail markers and expect them to be there on their way back and they aren't, leading to a calamity. It's one thing when you're out on an expedition in big boy mountains with no trails where you are likely the only people on the route. Here in NH I'd be worried that wands, bright tape, etc would get tampered with and affect my return.

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I'm by no means hardcore LNT and I'm not touching wands, because who wants to carry those, but I pull tape on bushwhacks all the time. So, a legit concern. But you're probably not in whiteout territory if you're using tape.

JoshandBaron said:

I'm by no means hardcore LNT and I'm not touching wands, because who wants to carry those, but I pull tape on bushwhacks all the time. So, a legit concern. But you're probably not in whiteout territory if you're using tape.

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I knew it! I think the only time I "blaze" my trail is when I stay out overnight for a sunset/sunrise. I normally have 4-5 extra tent pegs so I'll hang them on key trees going off trail back to my tent (I never put one directly on the trail - too easy for someone to grab). That way when I come back at night there is a metallic reflective surface (mine are a metallic gold color which was just a coincidence but the color worked out well for this) on my landmarks to catch my headlamp beam in case I'm not seeing the line I took in or out. In the morning when I head out for the last time I grab them as I'm walking out.