Busy SAR 2019 Season Continues

[DayTrip]

Looks like we have another missing hiker : https://www.wmur.com/article/search...K4O1HEbt84IU-VVdF8NI63RpUFSzBfKvwRFedXbnAIkuI

Hopefully the mild weather will help with a positive outcome. Has anyone seen a more detailed article? This one is pretty lacking and is clearly not written by someone familiar with the area.

 

[nartreb]

Yeah, lots of little give-aways that the reporter has not done any research. But if the paraphrase is accurate, I'm a bit annoyed at Colonel Kevin Jordan of New Hampshire Fish and Game. I understand it's his job to discourage the unprepared from attempting a one-day Pemi Loop, but there's no need to lie about it.

My best guess is that the missing hiker left Massachusetts Sunday night, slept in his car or something and was attempting a one-day loop starting very early on Monday.

Running out of water is concerning, shows poor preparation.

More concerning is that the last contact was Monday, and it's Thursday. Those trails don't nearly as much traffic mid-week, but they do get some, plus the searchers would check the trails first. Either he went off-trail , or he's *very* well hidden under a boulder somewhere.

 

[Grey J]

Right, there is no Pemigewasset Loop Trail as stated in the article, although there is a Pemigewasset (Pemi) loop route with optional summit variations. And although I am past the point of attempting it, Colonel Jordan is exaggerating since lots of people safely complete the loop in a day, many of whom have posted about it right here.

 

[sierra]

" Even the most experienced hikers, wont do it in a day" Ahem, actually they do it all the time. I hope for a good outcome. Hopefully, he didn't drop down into the Pemi like on the LBT. If you go off trail down there, you might never be found.

 

[DayTrip]

" Even the most experienced hikers, wont do it in a day" Ahem, actually they do it all the time. I hope for a good outcome. Hopefully, he didn't drop down into the Pemi like on the LBT. If you go off trail down there, you might never be found.

Yes that made me chuckle. Isn't the record like 6.5 hours now or something ridiculous? You'd think a NH F&G person, even an intern, would know that this hike is regularly attempted and completed in a day. Maybe not by a 70 year old is what he meant? Been quite awhile with no news.

 

[TEO]

Running out of water is concerning, shows poor preparation.

I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. Particularly if you're looking to save weight, what to bring/what not to bring is an educated guess and gamble at the best. It may be that he was unprepared, but that's a big assumption with the limited facts included the article.

I hope they find him soon.

 

[nartreb]

I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. Particularly if you're looking to save weight, what to bring/what not to bring is an educated guess and gamble at the best. It may be that he was unprepared, but that's a big assumption with the limited facts included the article.

I hope they find him soon.

Barring accidents like dropping a water bottle off a cliff, it shows he either didn't study the map (to know where the water sources are, and how far apart) or didn't have the experience to estimate his water consumption in the weather conditions he encountered. I grant the latter isn't being "unprepared" in the usual "hiker goes into the woods at sunset without a headlight" sense, but if you're going to try a one-day Pemi loop, you should be more prepared than for a typical day-hike.

 

[Rhody Seth]

Isn't the record like 6.5 hours now or something ridiculous?

Down to 5h45m which is nuts: https://fastestknowntime.com/fkt/patrick-caron-pemigewasset-loop-nh-2018-08-11

 

[sierra]

Down to 5h45m which is nuts: https://fastestknowntime.com/fkt/patrick-caron-pemigewasset-loop-nh-2018-08-11

For perspective and possibly a laugh at my expense. That's my RT time for Flume via the Osseo trail.

 

[egilbe]

Pat Caron is a crazy freak of nature, though.

 

[alexmtn]

Pat Caron is a crazy freak of nature, though.

In the nicest of ways. He does inspire!

My own Pemi program is to see how close I can get to twice his time!

Alex

 

[DougPaul]

Christopher Staff (the Pemi loop trail hiker, missing since Monday) has been found by two hikers around 7:30 this evening. He was sitting on a log, dehydrated but otherwise OK.

Source: 11pm TV news report.

Doug

 

[richard]

Good news. I feel better.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

I haven't seen anything to indicate whether he was an "experienced" hiker. He might have been one of those people who say "Let's see. 30 miles at 3 miles per hour. How hard could it be?"

At age 70 I managed to complete a 3-day with overnights at Greenleaf and Galehead huts. I have since toyed with the idea of trying a 2-day, but have yet to act on it.

 

[ChrisB]

I haven't seen anything to indicate whether he was an "experienced" hiker. He might have been one of those people who say "Let's see. 30 miles at 3 miles per hour. How hard could it be?"

So glad he’s Ok.

A curious case that makes me wonder about his state of mind. Sort of like the elderly guy who goes out for a walk and fails to return.

 

[Salty]

Indeed, great to hear. A (very) few more details: https://www.wmur.com/article/70-yea...ys-in-white-mountains-is-found-alive/28227179

Which raises some questions that I doubt we'll ever get the answers to. Pemi SAR says he was at the junction of the Bondcliff and Wilderness (sure they meant Linc. Woods) trails. Four days earlier he called his wife saying he was about 3/4 done, which is about that area. He was dehydrated with Black Brook only feet away. I suppose one presumption was he ended up off trail coming off Bondcliff and only found his way back to the trail very recently. I see on TrailsNH there was a hiker on that route (LW to the Cliffs) on Wednesday.

 

[JustJoe]

Indeed, great to hear. A (very) few more details: https://www.wmur.com/article/70-yea...ys-in-white-mountains-is-found-alive/28227179

Which raises some questions that I doubt we'll ever get the answers to. Pemi SAR says he was at the junction of the Bondcliff and Wilderness (sure they meant Linc. Woods) trails. Four days earlier he called his wife saying he was about 3/4 done, which is about that area. He was dehydrated with Black Brook only feet away. I suppose one presumption was he ended up off trail coming off Bondcliff and only found his way back to the trail very recently. I see on TrailsNH there was a hiker on that route (LW to the Cliffs) on Wednesday.

They probably, as I, still think of that section from the wilderness boundary to the Bondcliff Tr. as it's former name. But after the pemi bridge was removed, it was renamed Bondcliff Tr. Did it get renamed again to LW? But not to mention Black Brook, the Pemi very is close to that junction too.

 

[sierra]

One of my friends were in the group that found him sitting on a log. He looked tired and out of it according to them. He says he got dehydrated on the first day of his trip. That could have been the catalyst for his decision making from that point on.

 

[srhigham]

How do you get dehydrated in the pemi during a relatively wet spring? Arent there streams everywhere?

 

[TCD]

Good to hear he's OK.

How do you get dehydrated in the pemi during a relatively wet spring? Arent there streams everywhere?

Right away when I saw this I thought of media induced irrational fear of giardisis, causing one not to drink water that's available, and go down with dehydration, when the giardisis would not have kicked in until 8-10 days later.

My bet is classic media hysteria induced self injury. We'll see when and if the facts come out.