Lost on the NLP - The David Boomhower Article

Death on the NLP - The David Boomhower Article

This is the Article titled "Death on the Northville Placid Trail" that appeared in the July/August, 1993 edition of Adirondac. I scanned the document into word and cleaned it up. If anybody is intersted in receiving a copy, please send me an email at richard dot story@aventis dot com

I cannot post it online as I do not have permission from the ADK...

Got my copy, thanks Rick.

WOW, very interesting story.

A couple of "Basic lessons" really jumped out at me in this story.

1) Unless you are familiar, and have a good understanding of the area, can read terrain well, or are experienced at bushwhacking. It behooves you NOT to deviate from the trail/itinerary/route you have left behind with friends/family unless it in an absolute necessity.

2) If you do, the "wait it out" school of survival is pretty much out the window. This guy sat and watched "his rescuers" fly over his head daily and "waited it out" in a location they would never have looked.

Best as I can peice together, his body was located somewhere near -THIS X- , It boggles my mind that he could not have made it out. He obviously was real sick, or not familiar enough with the topography of the area to know that had he kept following sucker brook (where he was camped) downslope (even a little each day), it would have eventually taken him to the Lewey Lake Campground. Makes you pause to think "HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SURROUNDING TERRAIN WHEN YOU ARE HIKING".

Great stuff.

This article has got me even more excited for my bushwhack up Lewey Peak this weekend. Thanks Rick.

Mavs, I lay awake many nights after I read (and re-read) this article and had hiked the NLP wondering how this could happen, the only thing I could ever come up with is simply that Boomhower wanted to be lost for a while (similar to the fellow that was lost for 2 weeks in the High peaks area between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid a couple of years ago) to gain some attention.

Though it will always be unfair of me to state this, I always wondered if being slightly lost played into his equation for adventure and maybe somewhat like Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild) the situation quickly and disasterously spun out of control.

Though I do think in the Alaska situation, McCandless was a bit more knowledgeable and better prepared to sustain himself.

Both seemingly suffered the consequences of not carrying a good map - McCandless in not knowing there was a hand over hand river crossing cable car about a half mile from the Stampede Trail near a USGS river gauging station, and Boomhower for not knowing there was a ranger station 6 miles further on the NLP at Wakley Dam.

You indeed raise a great point - "What is around you on the trails you hike?" Especially on the NLP as you are in some extremely roadless areas for a few days at a stretch.

Thanks for sending that Rick. Haunting...

Matt

I wonder...

I read and re-read this article and I wondered if maybe he had a had a min-stroke or something or was sick before he left for the trip. He just went downhill so quickly...

In 55 days you could walk arcoss New York, yet alone the 6+ miles to the nearest road or trail.

I Remember A Similar Story,around The Same Time, Of A Hiker From The Loj Going Towards Indian Pass. I Believe It Was Late Summer Early Fall.some Other Hikers Met Up With Him Around The Pass, But He Was Never Seen Again. Anyone Else Hear Of Any Ending Good Or Bad?

Scary Story

Read and reread. Pretty scary how qyick you can go down.

Story

I was wondering if someone could send me the story. Thanks.

Natrix, send me a PM with your e-mail and I'll send it to you (I'm sure Rick will too).

Just to add another point, I bushwhacked Lewey this winter and passed right by where he died (and spent his last days). It was truly SCARY to think about. The woods were perfectly open and very easy to move about in. It's almost inconceivable that one could get lost for 50+ days back in there.

It just goes to shows the depth of confusion and disorientation that the combination of hunger and the lack of preparedness can bring. Unless this was a "passive" suicide, it certainly will give you pause to consider your preperation (mental and physical) before hiking remote trails.

ALSO

ROCKYSUMMIT said:

I Remember A Similar Story,around The Same Time, Of A Hiker From The Loj Going Towards Indian Pass. I Believe It Was Late Summer Early Fall.some Other Hikers Met Up With Him Around The Pass, But He Was Never Seen Again. Anyone Else Hear Of Any Ending Good Or Bad?

Click to expand...

I beleive your talking about Thomas Carleton, who went missing in that area around early October (or late Sept) 1993. Can't be sure on this, but I do not beleive he was ever found or heard from again.

Others may know more about his story.

Thanks

Hey, thanks for sending over that story - it was an interesting yet disturbing tale.

As absurd as it sounds that one could (probably) starve to death so close to civilization, it's obviously possible. Anyone who bushwhacks (planned or not) alone has the potential to break a leg and be stuck for quite some time - off trail.

What might have saved him (once he was off trail and his planned route)?

- Walking out, obviously. Better map skills and/or GPS might have told him just how close he was to getting out.
- Signal fire? A smoky flag for the daily helicopter fly-bys.
- Cell phone? Yes, yes, we know you don't like cell phones, but worth dying over?
- PLB? Overkill for the NLP you say, but would have saved him quick.

It is nice, though, to see a thread on a lost, rescued or deceased hiker go this long without anyone shouting 'survival of the fitest' or 'fine the bast**d'.

mavs00 said:

I beleive your talking about Thomas Carleton, who went missing in that area around early October (or late Sept) 1993. Can't be sure on this, but I do not beleive he was ever found or heard from again.

Others may know more about his story.

Click to expand...

We were just talking about this on the 46er listserve several weeks ago and The topic came up due to a cabin with a woodpile that Mark Lowell mentioned seeing of the Ore Bed Trail. Jim Close remembered seeing a pile of wood up by Lost Pond Peak, and has a theory that Thomas Carleton decided to get away from it all and live up there.
Another on the listserv, Barb Harris recalled seeing a red backpack near water in the puckerbrush of Sawtooth's last year and considered Thomas Carleton.

Here are my recollections that I recently wrote, from the search on Wallface
I had read that the DEC was looking for volunteers to help with the search for Thomas Carleton:

If I recall the date correctly it Was either October 21st or 22nd. I drove up to the ADK Loj on a Thursday or Friday night (it might have been a Thursday though) and slept in the back of my car, meeting up at the hikers and campers building at 7:30 that morning with the DEC - There were quite a few LASAR folks around as well as a lot of volunteers - mostly older folks (I was in my early 30's then, so to me older folks would have been in their fifties) I was also surprised to see lot of older guys with pot bellies, jeans, workboots and flannel shirts walking around - Not what I would expect for folks heading into the 'Daks in Late October.

The fellow that was in charge asked if anyone had climbed any trailess peaks before - I raised my hand as well as several others. He looked at me first and asked if I could search for 10-12 hours that day - I said yes and he paired me with 2 rangers and a young fellow that was college - (Ranger school at Wanakena, I think).

One of the rangers then asked us both if we had any fear of flying with helicopters and asked if we would mind flying in a helicopter - I said - No problem, I flew in them many times in the Army, having been in air traffic control. We then headed in a van to Lake Placid Airport where after a bit of lounging, we jumped in to a 10th Mountain Huey and took off.

It was a short flight- maybe 10-12 minutes - But I recall Algonquin on my right as we flew in, so I think the pilot came around the Macintyre range and over Tahawus, arriving from the South - I remember being disoriented as we landed at a flat marshy area somewhere between Scott's Pond and Wallface Pond
The rangers consulted their map - I looked at mine, but they were much quicker figuring out where we were. They quickly set a Southish bearing and we followed them up to the South section of the mountain where we started to do a search 5 feet apart - Sweeping back and forth over Wallface, gradually heading North.
I remember at one point when we got to the top, looking East and seeing Algonquin with Iroquois in front of it and becoming totally disoriented, thinking Algonquin should have been to the North with Iroquois below it. Boy, that was confusing.

At the extreme Southeast end of the mountain, we came to a bench with about an 8-10 foot drop which we all carefully jumped off to search the steeply sloping SE section, however, the steepness came quickly and we could search no further. I remember being disappointed because I was hoping there was a cliff I could hang my head over and look down a thousand feet.

We negotiated our way up and back over that bench and continued searching back and forth until we had covered pretty much the entire summit - It was a long exhausting day. I was surprised, though at the open forest and not a lot of puckerbrush, at least not the Krumholz I would have expected.

We continued to work our way back down the mountain until we reached the trail (I thought we should turn right to get back to the ponds, but we turned left) and in a few minutes, were back at the ponds.

They radioed the helicopter and within 20-30 minutes it came and picked us up - The trip back was much shorter - Seemingly like only a couple of minutes straight into the airport. I also remember looking down and seeing one of my black gloves laying on the ground as the helicopter took off.

I often thought back to that day wondering how I could have been so disoriented and I think it was because I was always trying to play catch-up with what the rangers were doing and thinking (IIRC, One was from the Catskills area and the other was local) and never had time to really get my bearings or consult map and compass. Even lunch was standing for a minute eating, before we continued searching.

I really look back at this and am glad I had the experience.
BTW, these are my memories and I am sticking to them

Tramper Al said:

It is nice, though, to see a thread on a lost, rescued or deceased hiker go this long without anyone shouting 'survival of the fitest' or 'fine the bast**d'.

Click to expand...

Not at all like Whiteblaze, Eh??

Rick said:

I remember being disoriented as we landed at a flat marshy area somewhere between Scott's Pond and Wallface Pond
The rangers consulted their map - I looked at mine, but they were much quicker figuring out where we were. I remember at one point when we got to the top, looking East and seeing Algonquin with Iroquois in front of it and becoming totally disoriented, thinking Algonquin should have been to the North with Iroquois below it. Boy, that was confusing.I often thought back to that day wondering how I could have been so disoriented and I think it was because I was always trying to play catch-up with what the rangers were doing and thinking (IIRC, One was from the Catskills area and the other was local) and never had time to really get my bearings or consult map and compass. Even lunch was standing for a minute eating, before we continued searching.

Click to expand...

Hello Rick,

Please understand that this is not a criticism but just an observation that hopefully might be of use to others as well. I am speaking to your experience, not your specific actions. Actually I am speaking to their actions. They should have made sure that everyone in the group knew were they where at all times and showed them on the map.

Never trust that the other person knows more than you do. I understand that they were 100% correct in this instance but I personally want all my team members to agree on where we are and what our route of travel is before we start. I want independent thinkers who know their craft and can spot if I make an error. I want them to all know where we are and how we are getting there and to independently confirm my assumptions are correct. Anyone can make a mistake. I am not saying that you have to scream, “I think your wrong” but an approach of “I am not sure where we are on the map, would you show me” or “I thought that we where here” or pointing out that the map does not orient properly with the surrounding terrain, could help the team do a re-think. I have no problem playing the part of the “helpful idiot” who “doesn’t know where he is” if it forces the team leader to show me where we are on the map and what bearing we are taking so that he proves to me that my suspicions are incorrect. Usually, this rethink, will allow the leader to realize on his own that something about his plan isn’t right. This is how I teach land navigation. I taught it in the army that way and I still teach orienteering and land navigation this way. If that doesn't work then a more forceful, but tactful approach may be required. It is never my intention to embarrass the team leader, no more than it is the copilots function to embarrass the pilot. It is the copilots function to make sure the pilot doesn’t drive the aircraft into a mountain because of a silly mistake or a misinterpreted reading of the instruments while he is sitting in the seat next to him. If everything is correct then no harm, no foul. If there was a problem you may have prevented, at a minimum, a far more embarrassing situation for the team and at worse serious injuries to the team or the team actually becoming lost. In addition, it is dangerous for you personally and the group as a whole. If you were separated from the group, or because of the team leaders or group injuries you had to take over the team it would be more difficult for you to get yourself and the rest of the team out of difficulty or to tell people where you were.

I understand that broaching this subject is even more difficult with a group that you were just thrown in with but, being that I have no personal history with them, that makes their navigation skills even more suspect to me. Usually a good team leader will be happy to share his knowledge. The people that worry me the most are the secretive ones. Again, I am not talking about the group you were a member. They obviously were competent but they still should have made sure everyone in the group had this critical information.

By the way. If you do your map checking subtlety, 99% of the time the rest of the group won't even know that you are checking on them.

Just my $.02,
Keith

McCandless in not knowing there was a hand over hand river crossing cable car about a half mile from the Stampede Trail near a USGS river gauging station

Click to expand...

Rik -it's been a LONG time since i read that fascinating book, but i thought MCCandless' dilemma was he ate some berries or flora that was poisonous because it wasnt yet ripe...?

refresh my memory

Tx

Gris

With McCandless, I beleive he ate the seeds of a plant that is extremely similiar to a wild potato seed or bud, but poisonous (IIRC).
I remember the comment that "Botanists sometimes confuse the two plants".

However, the fatal flaw of this seed was that it stopped his system of digesting anything else, so while he was eating, his body was receiving no nutrients and sadly, wasting away.

hey rick, iwas wondering how much time had passed before the search started?

ROCKYSUMMIT said:

hey rick, iwas wondering how much time had passed before the search started?

Click to expand...

I beleive the search for Thomas Carleton within a day or two after he did not return home. His car was found at the main ADK lot (vicinity of Hikers and Camper Building)

The way it was phrased to us (this is my 10 year memory) was that he had had a disagreement or argument with his wife or family members and decided to take off for the weekend. He had a pack, food and sleeping bag, but no stove. I don't recall whether he had a tent. He was also known to go off trail periodically.

I recall the rangers saying that in the first several days they brushed through the trails and checkled all the L/Ts. The days that followed were spent talking to other hikers that had been in over the weekend to better target the search I know there were volunteers searching off the sides of marked trails and herd paths as well.
I also recall hearing that the Troopers had checked his bank and there was no activity on his credit cards.

I think I was there late in the 2nd week or early in the 3rd week of the search.