LOST HIKER IN Spaulding mountain area maine.
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BISCUT
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That was a great write up. I hope the family gets the closure they are looking for.
Excellent article.
I remember meeting George in June 2013. He met Gerry at the crossing of the AT and Mt Washington Auto Road late one afternoon and was taking her into Gorham for a couple of nights, I was not on duty when he brought her back to resume her hike.
Both of them had smiles that lit up their faces. They were warm, gracious people , so very appreciative of local knowledge/advice on meals and re-supply/shopping for Gorham and for across the Maine border. They seemed both to be reveling in their shared adventure.
Has nagged at me ever since that Gerry and George didn't get to see the finale of their trip together.
Breeze.
I remember meeting George in June 2013. He met Gerry at the crossing of the AT and Mt Washington Auto Road late one afternoon and was taking her into Gorham for a couple of nights, I was not on duty when he brought her back to resume her hike.
Both of them had smiles that lit up their faces. They were warm, gracious people , so very appreciative of local knowledge/advice on meals and re-supply/shopping for Gorham and for across the Maine border. They seemed both to be reveling in their shared adventure.
Has nagged at me ever since that Gerry and George didn't get to see the finale of their trip together.
Breeze.
jean miller
New member
This article on Gerry Largay appeared in Portland's paper, The Bollard. She disappeared near a U.S. Navy SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) . It sounds like a good idea to steer clear of its boundaries.
http://thebollard.com/2015/06/30/m-i-a-on-the-a-t/
http://thebollard.com/2015/06/30/m-i-a-on-the-a-t/
Ed'n Lauky
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That was a fascinating article. I had no idea. I met a couple recently in Georgia northbound on the AT. We had an interesting discussion and this case came up. They have a close friend who is a very experienced S&R person who was called in to help look for Mrs. Largay. His conclusion was foul play. On another point, it's been nine years since I did Redington. I did it not by going over from the Crockers but by taking the Caribou Valley road as far as I could. I stopped at a bridge that was out, crossed the stream, and turned right on a road that crossed over. My memory of the hike is a bit vague at this point but isn't there along that road a sign indicating a restricted area ahead?
kerry13
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Wow, that is a crazy twist to the Largay story. Never knew there was a SERE facility in Maine all these years. When I was 20 I was in the AF and stationed in NM. I had gone to weapons technician school and maintained weapons systems on AF fighter aircraft. I had gotten bored with NM and wanted to go elsewhere. I was seriously considering volunteering as a chopper gunner, not the brightest move I could have ever made. Luckily a few friends who had been over to Nam got this one guy, who was a gunner, to talk some sense into me. He talked at length about the SERE school he went to. I believe the AF had one in Louisiana or somewhere in the southern boonies. The stuff he was put through, by his own countrymen, was just incredible. Though I had no reason to not believe him the stories have stuck with me all these years and I have often wondered if they were true. I never heard any more about the SERE schools while in the service or since, until now. Reading the article was like I was back in NM forty something years ago listening to the ex chopper gunner. Just incredible similarity. Thanks for posting the article.
peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
I suspect that the article has some motives other than a lost hiker. The facility is currently proposed as one several sites for an east coast anti ballistic missile facility
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/08/...es-for-missile-defense-facility-visits-maine/
Unlike the current facility, an ABM facility would have a much large footprint in a very wild area of the AT. There is a small but vocal opposition to this effort.
Base personnel were reported to have supplied extensive assistance during the search and I expect that there was dialogue between the staff and the state authorities as part of the fairly extensive search effort. Unlike the uncontrolled roads to the south of the AT crossings, there is only one way in and one way out of the facility and I expect that there is fairly tight control of who goes in and out. Thus the implied evil government contractor out for ill intent would have a tough time sneaking in an out.
The site has been used for other types of activities in the past. Dave Field the long term maintainer of Poplar Ridge Shelter found a part from a cruise missile while doing AT boundary maintenance. When the government was doing early tests of cruise missiles, the navy launched a few from the gulf of Maine to this area.
Maine Outdoor Activities Club at one point got invitations to participate in cold weather survival training at the facility.
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/08/...es-for-missile-defense-facility-visits-maine/
Unlike the current facility, an ABM facility would have a much large footprint in a very wild area of the AT. There is a small but vocal opposition to this effort.
Base personnel were reported to have supplied extensive assistance during the search and I expect that there was dialogue between the staff and the state authorities as part of the fairly extensive search effort. Unlike the uncontrolled roads to the south of the AT crossings, there is only one way in and one way out of the facility and I expect that there is fairly tight control of who goes in and out. Thus the implied evil government contractor out for ill intent would have a tough time sneaking in an out.
The site has been used for other types of activities in the past. Dave Field the long term maintainer of Poplar Ridge Shelter found a part from a cruise missile while doing AT boundary maintenance. When the government was doing early tests of cruise missiles, the navy launched a few from the gulf of Maine to this area.
Maine Outdoor Activities Club at one point got invitations to participate in cold weather survival training at the facility.
Ed'n Lauky
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My 2002 edition of the Maine Gazetteer does not show the facility. It would be interesting to know when it was added and what led to its being added.
I have a friend who did the training during the Nam era with another branch of service in another area. I sent the article to him. He replied that he lost 20 lbs in two weeks doing it, but nothing he went through would lead him to believe that anything that serious would happen to someone who just happened to wander onto the restricted area.
I have a friend who did the training during the Nam era with another branch of service in another area. I sent the article to him. He replied that he lost 20 lbs in two weeks doing it, but nothing he went through would lead him to believe that anything that serious would happen to someone who just happened to wander onto the restricted area.
It has been there longer than that and is poorly marked, if at all, on most maps. The DeLorme for awhile actually had Redington Falls marked as a suggested destination, but "difficult, no road access." It is in the restricted area.
The canonical tales are peakbaggers stumbling in and being escorted off at polite gunpoint, and a different crew winding up getting milk and cookies because the cook was lonely. I would advise against running into somebody on SERE training because they have no way to know you aren't part of the scenario and are likely not in a happy state. Just don't complicate their day and yours.
Don't go west off Redington and you should be able to avoid it.
peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
Gene Daniell used to make reference to it in his notes to the 100 highest. He commented that while summiting a subsidiary peak of Reddington that on one occasion they were invited in for drinks and cookies and another time there were escorted out by guards.
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Snowflea
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A strange twist, indeed, and a fascinating read. Thank you for posting, Jean Miller. Could there really be any connection?
Back in the early '90s a group of us bushwhacked Saddleback's North Horn to Potato Nubble, a 3 k'er. After summitting the latter, we continued north to the road along Redington Stream, the one that runs from "Dallas" to the Military facility. I'm pretty sure we were, unintentionally, within the restricted area because I remember coming upon a strange campsite of sorts and one in our party mentioning the Redington facility. I think we kind of high-tailed it out of there after the campsite encounter.
(Larry or Mike, if you are reading this and have anything to add, let me know!)
On my AMC Maine map of the area (1999 version), it's odd that the military facility and the AT corridor are both the same color green with no differentiation/boundary lines noted.
PS: It's Gene Daniell, not Daniels
Back in the early '90s a group of us bushwhacked Saddleback's North Horn to Potato Nubble, a 3 k'er. After summitting the latter, we continued north to the road along Redington Stream, the one that runs from "Dallas" to the Military facility. I'm pretty sure we were, unintentionally, within the restricted area because I remember coming upon a strange campsite of sorts and one in our party mentioning the Redington facility. I think we kind of high-tailed it out of there after the campsite encounter.
(Larry or Mike, if you are reading this and have anything to add, let me know!)On my AMC Maine map of the area (1999 version), it's odd that the military facility and the AT corridor are both the same color green with no differentiation/boundary lines noted.
PS: It's Gene Daniell, not Daniels
peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
The facility was mentioned in this article from 1988.
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/28/us/navy-and-mainers-clash-on-missiles.html
Folks tend to forget that mapmaking used to be far more laborious than it is today. Prior to a congressional mandate to complete the 15 minute to 7.5 minute conversion of the USGS map database, much of rural western maine was 15 minute quads from the 1920s and the updating was still partially done by hand, (some may note the provisionals for this area still include hand notes). CAD based GIS was just coming out in the Mid to late eighties and once that technology came out it was a lot easier to generate maps and do overlays for property boundaries. Since the base is in a unorganized township, the only entity that might be interested in mapping was the LURC and my experience is that they were behind the times in mapping. At the time, Delorme primarily overlaid data from existing maps onto the old US census road maps with no topo so unless there was a good map database to work off showing the boundaries of the area, Delorme wouldn't show it. Coincident with the USGS map upgrade, the government released electronic format maps (TIGR?) and then private industry hopped in and GIS spun off from CAD. The AT corridor boundaries were also being surveyed in the mid eighties and there is a distinct possibility that prior to National Park Service Survey, that the AT was run through SERE base land with no distinction. Since Dave Field has been the caretaker of Poplar Ridge shelter forever, I expect that he could fill in a lot of the details on ownership as he was involved with the NPS effort to establish the boundaries.
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/28/us/navy-and-mainers-clash-on-missiles.html
Folks tend to forget that mapmaking used to be far more laborious than it is today. Prior to a congressional mandate to complete the 15 minute to 7.5 minute conversion of the USGS map database, much of rural western maine was 15 minute quads from the 1920s and the updating was still partially done by hand, (some may note the provisionals for this area still include hand notes). CAD based GIS was just coming out in the Mid to late eighties and once that technology came out it was a lot easier to generate maps and do overlays for property boundaries. Since the base is in a unorganized township, the only entity that might be interested in mapping was the LURC and my experience is that they were behind the times in mapping. At the time, Delorme primarily overlaid data from existing maps onto the old US census road maps with no topo so unless there was a good map database to work off showing the boundaries of the area, Delorme wouldn't show it. Coincident with the USGS map upgrade, the government released electronic format maps (TIGR?) and then private industry hopped in and GIS spun off from CAD. The AT corridor boundaries were also being surveyed in the mid eighties and there is a distinct possibility that prior to National Park Service Survey, that the AT was run through SERE base land with no distinction. Since Dave Field has been the caretaker of Poplar Ridge shelter forever, I expect that he could fill in a lot of the details on ownership as he was involved with the NPS effort to establish the boundaries.
John H Swanson
Active member
It is noted on the topo maps and you can see it on ACME Mapper.
Some of the little peaks fall along the boundries of the facility. I remember seeing the signs marking the border with some typical governement warning.
It was not unusual to see comments in the summit canisters around that area referencing the facility. Some of the sign-ins were said to be trainees but it is difficult to confirm their authenticity vs. hikers making stuff up.
On one occasion when I was near the border I remember hearing activity with helicopters flying overhead. It can get the imagination going and does wonders for increasing the pace. That was many years ago.
Some of the little peaks fall along the boundries of the facility. I remember seeing the signs marking the border with some typical governement warning.
It was not unusual to see comments in the summit canisters around that area referencing the facility. Some of the sign-ins were said to be trainees but it is difficult to confirm their authenticity vs. hikers making stuff up.
On one occasion when I was near the border I remember hearing activity with helicopters flying overhead. It can get the imagination going and does wonders for increasing the pace. That was many years ago.
"I've been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet, had my head snowed in, and I'm still on my feet, and I'm still,...willin"
John, forgive me for this but I'm quite sure the correct lyric is "had my head stoved in"
although perhaps you intended the north woods version which should be called "chillin"
John, forgive me for this but I'm quite sure the correct lyric is "had my head stoved in"
although perhaps you intended the north woods version which should be called "chillin"
John H Swanson
Active member
I know but I like to think of it that way.
TCD
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+1. Reads to me as though he has an axe to grind. I wonder if the article was approved by the missing hiker's family. I hope it was...otherwise I see it as the author dragging the missing hiker incident into some kind of personal campaign he has...
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the solution." Sherlock Holmes
The disappearance (and presumed death) of Ms Largay, an experienced, seasoned, and by all accounts healthy and happy AT thru hiker who vanishes without a trace so close to this dark ops facility, points directly to the involvement of someone associated with SERE.
The disappearance (and presumed death) of Ms Largay, an experienced, seasoned, and by all accounts healthy and happy AT thru hiker who vanishes without a trace so close to this dark ops facility, points directly to the involvement of someone associated with SERE.
Fair enough. There's no direct evidence. What I mean is that not only is it plausible but that there is no other plausible explanation.
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