Lost Hiker - Crawford Path Parking lot

[Grey J]

No one really knows where he went or where he ended up. If he got far enough off trail in some of the areas mentioned, he may never be found. Ironically, this might make him into a (tragic) White Mt legend.

 

[kerry13]

Another sad ending

https://www.wmur.com/article/nh-mis...ker-found-dead-nh-fish-and-game-says/60781840

 

[JustJoe]

A little less ad noise.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/missing-hiker-from-massachusetts-found-dead-new-hampshire/60781837

 

[Scubahhh]

Sad ending to a sad story. It sounds like this must have been right around the Mt. Clinton Trail junction. Maybe he got into trouble crossing Dry River?

 

[peakbagger]

RIP

Pure speculation is that there is a known hiker "trap" near Mizpah Springs hut that redirects folks down the Mt Clinton Trail instead of the Webster Cliffs trail. There have a few rescues over the years due to this confusing trail junction. Mt Clinton trail starts out well marked with a defined foot bed but eventually gets sucked down into a drainage where the trail becomes increasing difficult to follow especially in the spring before any blowdowns are cleared. It is in a wilderness area, so no trail blazes, and minimal maintenance. There are a couple of potentially significant stream/river crossings near the site of the long gone Dry River Shelter near the Mt Isolation and Mt Eisenhower trail intersection. It is also easy to get turned around in that area as the trails were rerouted away from the former shelter site.

 

[JoshandBaron]

If he was able to make that Mt Clinton Dry River crossing or get down via Eisenhower or Dry River (all impressive feats in late spring), there is a severe washout high up the bank to traverse just south of the Mt Clinton crossing where a wrong step could easily send you sliding uncontrolled into the river. I took a ride halfway down it last summer.

 

[sierra]

I knew early on he went down there, it happens fairly frequently. It's not a good bailout option, but people want to get off the ridge in bad weather, which I certainly understand, but that valley just replaces weather problems, with routes problems. If it was summer, he would have had a great chance, but the rotten snow and lack of any monorail makes travel a nightmare.

 

[NHClimber]

Did he go down Mt. Clinton or the Dry River Cutoff? Mt. Clinton ends at Dry River to the southeast whereas the Cutoff leaves you much further north up Dry River where I suspect the trail situation is messier.

 

[hikeritz]

Tragic all around, but where his body was found under a boulder big enough to require extra help to move, I hope he perished quickly vs. being pinned and succumbing slowly due to injuries and/or exposure.

 

[JoshandBaron]

Did he go down Mt. Clinton or the Dry River Cutoff? Mt. Clinton ends at Dry River to the southeast whereas the Cutoff leaves you much further north up Dry River where I suspect the trail situation is messier.

The cut off is easier to navigate than the lower section of Mt Clinton and the stream crossing would certainly be easier up stream. Mt Clinton comes out on a high bank that makes the approach to the river a bit tricky. Even if he made the mistake at Mitzpah, I can't imagine he wouldn't turn around when he reached the clinton/cut off jct. It's not even a half mile and he wouldn't need to ascend to treeline to correct himself. If he was so hypothermic that his judgement was that impaired I can't imagine how he made it to the river.

 

[Ear Drum]

A sad outcome. My condolences.

 

[DayTrip]

I'm not sure I follow the situation on this one. If he was found 400 ft from the location that hikers found a jacket and gear then he was near a trail I assume at a river crossing? I assume no one was bushwhacking in there at this time of year. The Mt Clinton trail really isn't between Eisenhower and Monroe. It's well South of that. Maybe it was the Mount Eisenhower Trail? There is a particularly tricky crossing at the bottom where the trail meets the Dry River Trail and that is a popular camping area so I could see people being in that area. The Dry River Cut Off also comes out there and the intersections with the river there is very confusing. Possibly he came down Eisenhower Trail and was heading up Dry River Cut Off to get back to Hut and Crawford Path? If he actually bushwhacked down the steep terrain of the ridge between Eisenhower and Monroe I'm thinking he never would have been found.

And did the boulder fall on him or did the river current wedge him under it? If they needed tools I am assuming it rolled on him somehow or they could have just dragged him out from underneath? Am I missing info from another article?

Sucks either way but at least he was located. The not knowing can be awful for family and friends.

 

[JoshandBaron]

He was found 2.5 miles from 302. The Mt Clinton crossing and a campsite are at 2.6 miles. There is a high washout to traverse between the campsite and 2.5 miles. I don't imagine a body being able to travel far from point of entry in that river. I would assume he was wedged under the boulder by the current.

 

[peakbagger]

Anyone who has participated in whitewater kayaking or canoeing probably have encountered canoes and kayaks wedged under trees and rocks. Water pressure from spring runoff is a very effective force.

The Dry River is definitely a misnomer in the spring. Belcher's logging railroad book makes reference to the firm that bought cutting rights to the area and built a logging railroad with many river crossings. They logged one winter, and when they came back the next fall, all the bridges were gone due to spring run off and they abandoned the contract. The watershed holds a lot of snow due to its orientation east of the southern presidential ridge and the snow pack gets quite deep, the normally dry river bed becomes a raging torrent and then quickly once the snow pack melts, the flow can drop precipitously to where the river downstream looks nearly dry. It also cranks up quickly after a heavy rain event year round. Some of the landslides along the river that formed after a heavy rain event in the past are quite impressive and really did in the trail network. For stretches, its reminiscent of the other old railroad beds but in the whites but go around a corner and there can be hundred yard washout that is actively sliding. The bypasses routes usually are routed up and above along the upper edge of the washout.

 

[DayTrip]

He was found 2.5 miles from 302. The Mt Clinton crossing and a campsite are at 2.6 miles. There is a high washout to traverse between the campsite and 2.5 miles. I don't imagine a body being able to travel far from point of entry in that river. I would assume he was wedged under the boulder by the current.

I missed that detail. I got hung up on the "between Eisenhower and Monroe" statement so it didn't seem like the Mt Clinton Trail made sense. That is indeed a "big time" river crossing and at this time of year no doubt was extremely dangerous. Even on a nice Summer day and it can be tricky.

That last 3/4 mile or so of the Mt Clinton Trail before the crossing to join Dry River Trail is the only spot in the Whites to this day that I could not follow the actual trail and had to bushwhack along the river to the Dry River junction to stay oriented. Faint foot bed, blow downs and a lot of confusing areas. I can't imagine how confusing that must have been at this time of year, especially as exhausted as he must have been at that point.

 

[JoshandBaron]

I had the same experience my first time on the lower section of Mt Clinton. Couldn't follow the trail from the Dry River until it started going up the drainage. I spent 3 days last summer fishing the river around the campsite near where they found him and took a walk up to the hut. The trail was a little bit better but still pretty wild.

 

[NHClimber]

I thought the Mt. Clinton junction was a little further from 302 - like almost 3.0 miles. So it’s still unclear to me where and how he got into trouble, but seems it had to have been with a river crossing.

 

[JoshandBaron]

I thought the Mt. Clinton junction was a little further from 302 - like almost 3.0 miles. So it’s still unclear to me where and how he got into trouble, but seems it had to have been with a river crossing.

 

[NHClimber]

Thanks. Weird, all the maps I have show 2.9 miles total.

 

[CaptCaper]

My actual track with a Garmin 700 running and recording all day was 6.8 miles RT. Lunch at the crossing or were the sign is anyhow. Another dayTo the falls was ( the faint track ) 12.5 RT.