Rescue in the great Gulf

[peakbagger]

https://nhfishgame.com/2021/07/30/lost-hiker-found-safe-on-sphinx-trail/

Kind of hard to envision getting Buttress Trail confused with the Gulfside or any other trail. Buttress obviously drops into the Great Gulf. Yes in combination with Six Husbands or Sphinx it could be used to get between huts but obviously with a large amount of elevation lost and gained. She would have passed the intersection with Star Lake Trail which would have been a good clue that she was quite far from her intended route. The woods in that area of the Gulf are incredibly thick and not bushwhack friendly.

At least she made it out alive.

 

[DayTrip]

Yah this is a weird one. Was it foggy? How do you miss your intended trail that badly when all the terrain is laid out in full view in front of you? And signs are not exactly lacking in that area, nor prominent landmarks like the Moonrock, Star Lake, etc. And if she had all the things you're supposed to have - what did she have for a map? Could she read it or even attempt to use it? And how did she get off Buttress Trail and end up on Sphinx without intersecting the Six Husbands Trail first or the lower portions of Buttress? I had to actually take out my maps to look at this when I read the description. That doesn't seem possible, even at night.

Glad it ended well but it would seem this person had a truly awful sense of direction and ability to read the terrain and a map.

 

[maineguy]

Weird is right. OK, so you could possibly take Buttress by mistake for a short time, but it quickly veers away from treeline and heads down into the Gulf. To get to the Sphinx Trail she must have crossed the Peabody River (not to mention the 6 Husbands and Great Gulf Trails)...or bushwacked (?!) without crossing it. A mighty feat if ever there was one. I wonder whether she was ascending or descending Sphinx Trail when found.

 

[ChrisB]

Weird is right. OK, so you could possibly take Buttress by mistake for a short time, but it quickly veers away from treeline and heads down into the Gulf. To get to the Sphinx Trail she must have crossed the Peabody River (not to mention the 6 Husbands and Great Gulf Trails)...or bushwacked (?!) without crossing it. A mighty feat if ever there was one. I whether she was ascending or descending Sphinx Trail when found.

And she was in good spirits when found. All in all, I'd say she is one tuff motha!!

 

[Grey J]

That must have been one helluva bushwhack. She's pretty lucky she got out of there and found her way back to a trail. I thought it was interesting that the article said "The AMC trail crew . . . located Bannon's cell phone on the trail" so either she lost it or when the battery died she just ditched it. Certainly one of the more unusual White Mt rescue stories. Happy ending though.

 

[SherpaWill]

The article states she was hiking with her son, so why was he only in contact with her via cell? Was she lagging behind? Did he ditch her? Weird indeed.

 

[Salty]

Glad it ended well but it would seem this person had a truly awful sense of direction and ability to read the terrain and a map.

Ding ding ding. Exactly why I was thinking this was less "weird" and more... well, more of what we're seeing lately (face palm).

 

[Grey J]

I blame the son. At least that's what my mother would say.

 

[Mac]

I blame the son. At least that's what my mother would say.

Mine too

 

[wardsgirl]

When I hiked with my son, he often ditched me, but I always made him stop at intersections and stream crossings. It seemed to work out fine!