Lost Hiker on Mt Lafayette - FOUND!

[1ADAM12]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I am so glad for the happy ending. I pray to god that one day this is not me. I guess it can happen to anybody

 

[grouseking]

Just got off the phone with a PVSART buddy, who confirmed indeed our lost hiker was on the Lincoln Brook side of Lafayette when rescued by helicopter (not sure how far down, but below treeline). The creme de la creme of rescuers from Fish & Game, White Mountain Rescue Service, AVSAR, and PVSART were helicoptered to the ridge this morning (two Fish & Game guys are in the red parka in the WMUR photo at the link above). Fortunately, the hiker had a sleeping bag and was able to survive two nights out; he did the right thing in getting below treeline, IMHO, unlike the couple who died over Easter weekend in 2004. Apparently he suffered some frostbite. Some of you long-timers on this site will remember the camp group that over Thanksgiving (or early December?) a few years ago hiked up Falling Waters, over Franconia Ridge, over Garfield, and down to 13 Falls, then turned around and hiked all the way up again over Garfield and Lafayette and back out via Falling Waters (or perhaps the BP?), as they did not have a map and were clueless about where they were. So, two nights out in winter conditions, with many of them wearing sneakers. Some had turned around earlier in the trip and reported the others missing. I believe that they were fined throught the newly minted "reckless hiking" law at the time. Until we learn the details, I think that it is too early to say what happened this time, but I am glad he is alive.

Even though it sounds like he was well prepared for this type of thing, I am really still amazed that he was able to make it out ok. THe group must have pretty much made it all the way to Lafayette and he took a wrong turn when they headed back. But I'm def curious as to his whole tale. I wonder if he is a lurker on this website. If so, perhaps he can join!

grouseking

 

[bobandgeri]

News report indicated that he was found in a remote area of the Pemi - 11 miles from the trailhead. The National Gaurd helicopter appeared to have found him by following a trail of discarded non-essential gear that he had left as bread crumbs.

Glad that he made it out okay!

 

[bryan]

was out on liberty and flume today initially ignorant of the fact he hadn't been found. there was definite helicopter action all morning and by the time i was making the summits it was clear they were focusing low on the east side of lafayette. maybe even down on that high plateau area at the head of lincoln brook. it seems he got down pretty far off the ridge. i was just glad to hear he was ok when i got back to the car as i developed a sense of guilt being out enjoying myself knowing someone was in trouble. excellent work by all involved in the rescue. it will be interesting to hear the details of what exactly went down once fish and game talks to him.

bryan

 

[HikerAmiga]

TO FOLLOW IS THE LATEST E-MAIL REPORT THAT I RECEIVED FROM FISH AND GAME:

LOST HIKER RESCUED FROM MOUNT LAFAYETTE SUMMIT

CONCORD, N.H. -- The White Mountain search for lost hiker Brian Gagnon, age 24, of Merrimack, N.H., ended successfully today (Monday, January 22, 2007), when Gagnon was rescued by helicopter from his location near the summit of Mt. Lafayette after being found by wilderness search and rescue teams coordinated by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. He had survived two nights on the mountain in subzero temperatures, with wind and snow creating white-out conditions on Sunday. He was subsequently airlifted to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon to be treated for frostbite to his feet and hands. Gagnon was conscious when rescuers reached him.

Gagnon had been missing since he separated from his two hiking companions on Saturday, January 20, on Mt. Lafayette, when the group encountered treacherous winter conditions. His companions had returned safely to the Old Bridle Path trailhead in Franconia Notch on Saturday evening.

Eight search teams, with dozens of trained rescuers, began searching Sunday without success, with search efforts hampered by cold temperatures and winds up to 60 MPH.

The winds subsided on Monday, allowing two Army National Guard helicopters to deploy to the scene. One allowed searchers to scan the mountainside from the air. The other helicopter, a Blackhawk, was used to ferry teams of trained wilderness rescue personnel to the summit of Mt. Lafayette. From there, the teams fanned out, traversing below the treeline to search for Gagnon's footprints. More than 65 skilled searchers were involved in the effort on Monday.

Teams discovered the hiker's tracks at about 10:35 a.m. on Monday, January 22. Following the footprints, they found a water bottle and ski poles that fit the description of the man's equipment, and eventually an abandoned makeshift shelter. The tracks continued for several thousand feet, where the search team found Gagnon, wrapped in a sleeping bag; he had put his mittens on his feet to protect them. Searchers determined that he had bushwhacked about a mile from the Mt. Lafayette summit, heading into the Pemigewasset Wilderness Area. Gagnon was hoisted by helicopter, from near where he was found, at about 1:20 p.m.

"The fact that he had good winter hiking and camping equipment with him probably saved Brian Gagnon's life," said Col. Jeffrey Gray of New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement. "In addition, the remarkable team effort by search organizations and the Army National Guard made the difference in safely recovering this man."

According to Gray, ferrying the search teams by helicopter to the summit saved searchers many hours of time and grueling effort that would have been required to traverse the rugged terrain and reach the top to begin the search.

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officers were joined in the search effort by the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue, Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue, Mountain Rescue Services, the Upper Connecticut Valley Search and Rescue and the New Hampshire Army National Guard.

No further information is available at this time.

 

[Bobby]

I'm glad he's OK, hopefully just a little worse for the wear. Kudos to the SAR guys. I hope the story gets shared, it may help others survive.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Any idea why he called his friends instead of 911? I thought 911 could pinpoint the location of phone calls and he could have been rescued a day sooner?

I thought he had probably dropped into Lafayette Brook drainage, but he should have been able to walk out from there by now.

Doug covered it pretty good as usual. There is also a fading technique that can help locate a cell phone location. My reference to GPS is that some phones, like mine, have GPS built in and many people don't know they have it. I can easily get a GPS coordinate to give verbally over the phone. No equipment is needs to interpret the coordinate and it doesn't need an E911 system to use. That coordinate would have helped considerablly in the search. If someone had made a point to see if he had a phone with GPS capability a lot of the search part could have been unecessary. Not saying they didn't check about this. I was just wondering.

Glad he was found. Hope he makes out OK. He is in one of the best spots he could be for treatment. IMHO.

Great job and congrats for everyone involved in the search.

Also, just to make sure everyone knows. I wasn't in the area at all so I have no real knowledge of the search.

Keith

 

[bubba]

Great news. This had really caught my attention early on.

More than 65 skilled searchers were involved in the effort on Monday... ferrying the search teams by helicopter to the summit saved searchers many hours of time and grueling effort that would have been required to traverse the rugged terrain and reach the top to begin the search

Man, that's more S&R people than I would have guessed. Good for them!! And, no doubt that ferrying teams made plenty of difference. Some fine teamwork getting the job done. Thanks to all. This has to be one very happy family.

 

[Frodo]

Nothing like a happy ending!

This reminds me of a similar situation a few years ago when a Canadian hiker became separated from his group in a whiteout on the summit of Lafayette and also went down into the Pemi. The only difference is he ended up hiking all the way out to the Lincoln Woods parking lot and did not need to be rescued. (I bet Mohamed remembers that one)

The key thing about these situations is getting below treeline, even if you have to bushwhack. Obviously, this is what saved this guy's life...

I also want to mention, AWESOME JOB to all of the SAR people who helped to give this story a positive ending...

 

[Nadine]

Kudos to SAR.

IIRC, cell phone gps gives you a tower grid in which the call was placed from, not an exact latitude & longitude. It *does* weed out where not to search rather nicely though. Some of the tower grid areas can be quite large, as those are here in the North Maine Woods, where cell towers are miles and miles apart.

 

[Lawn Sale]

That's amazing, I'm so glad they found him. I always carry a sleeping bag and bivy with me, along with a stove and at least a day's worth of food, even on a day hike. You just never know when something like this could happen. We all think we're better than that, until something goes wrong at the most inopportune moment. Those were some nasty conditions, I'm glad he's OK.

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

Wow, what a great ending to a scary story. Excellent job by all! Hope he gets his story out when he's up to it.

 

[DougPaul]

IIRC, cell phone gps gives you a tower grid in which the call was placed from, not an exact latitude & longitude. It *does* weed out where not to search rather nicely though. Some of the tower grid areas can be quite large, as those are here in the North Maine Woods, where cell towers are miles and miles apart.

Direction finding or time of arrival (depends on the phone protocol, eg TDMA, GSM, CDMA, etc) can be much more accurate than simply locating the cell. The phone signal must reach 2 towers for direction finding or 3 towers for time of arrival. GPS is far more accurate.

There is some info in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E911

Doug

 

[forestgnome]

Nothing like a happy ending!

This reminds me of a similar situation a few years ago when a Canadian hiker became separated from his group in a whiteout on the summit of Lafayette and also went down into the Pemi.

Excellent work by SAR

Since we may not hear any more from the hiker, I'll speculate. The wind out of the NW was ferocious on Saturday. The whiteout caused by that wind was probably the reason he lost his way, at which point he wanted to get off the ridge and into the trees. I would guess that most humans would tend to go with such a wind, and not against it. So, he ended up on the leeward side of the mountain. Comments on that from our SAR folks?

Happy Trails

 

[Mike P.]

Glad everyone is okay, I'd agree with assumption must people would go with the wind which would mean they are unfamilar with where the trail was in realtionship to wind direction or they really only wanted shelter knowing they were abandoning the trail.

IMO the time to turn back on F-Ridge is at Little Haystack on that side & just above the trees on Lafayette. Lafayette is probably the hardest peak not named for a President in NH for finding your way back to the trail.

 

[TJ aka Teej]

Great job by SAR!

I remain amazed by their skill and dedication.

 

[LivesToHike]

Good to hear a happy ending...

I'm really glad he got out alive and generally in good condition. I agree his gear and actions probably saved his own life. I'm really grateful to the SAR folks who volunteered their time and effort, as well as took risks to find this lost hiker.

I'll anxiously await to read Mohamed's report next Dec for further analysis.


--LTH

 

[sardog1]

Some more details in the Union Leader this morning: Lost hiker found alive.

Here's the Obs' Higher Summits Forecast from last Friday for Saturday. Saturday was the day they started on the hike to the summit of Lafayette:

Precipitation ahead of a low pressure system along the eastern seaboard will continue to move over the summits this morning as the low moves up. The heaviest snow fall amounts will occur in the southern and coastal regions although the summits will receive a fair amount. The main story is as the low pulls away to the north today, it will deepen and the pressure gradient will grow tighter. This will cause winds to increase today into tomorrow night with winds gusting increasing rapidly to hurricane force this afternoon then averaging at least 100 mph tomorrow. Winds will also shift to a northwesterly direction as well bringing in colder conditions. This will allow wind chills to reach almost 60 below by Saturday as winds stay high and temperatures plummet. Snow showers will linger through the period as well as a decent upslope snow event occurs. Loose snow and high winds will also lift snow off the ground creating near white out conditions as well at times. Windchills will be 10-20 below today, 40-50 below tonight, and 50-60 below tomorrow.

Here's an excerpt from the USFS Avalanche Advisory for Tuckerman and Huntington Ravines for Friday. it is often useful for trip planning, even outside avalanche terrain:

The other main concern besides snow stability for tomorrow will be very high and very gusty winds with a dropping temperatures. We are expecting gusting over 110mph (177+kph) with a high temperature of only -15F (-26C). As tomorrow is a Saturday this is very concerning as more people will consider attempting to go to the summit. Do not consider this a personal challenge to overcome. If the forecast plays out these are truly desperate conditions. High winds are underestimated by many because they have been in 70mph (112kph) winds so what could another 40mph (65kph) matter? Trust me, A LOT! Anyone being out at all should have the best arctic mountain clothing possible. Feet, hands, and face are the locations have we have seen the most frostbitten. So good boots, mittens and the often-neglected face gear is extremely important.

 

[alpinista]

A story in the Nashua Telegraph says that the first thing the rescuers told this hiker when they found him was that the Patriots had lost. Now, that's just plain cruel!

 

[bobandgeri]

I was provided a further update this morning from someone who provided more detailed information that what the news story last night reported and wanted to share it with the group.

It seems that the S&R team first found the hiker and then called in the chopper via radio, giving them the GPS coordinates where they were. Due to extremely thick terrain, it took over an hour for the chopper to locate them, even with a small smudge fire and 12 S&R folks waving brightly colored articles.

While it true that the teams did find some of the hikers gear, it was at one location and did not appear to have been left on purpose, but more an act of a hastey departure from the summit.