Sierras Worst Nightmare!

[NHChris]

I remember Sierra’s cogent comments about Artist Bluff leaf peepers from last year about this time.

Well it Looks even more intense this year… if that is possible!

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

It was insane up there, especially on Saturday. And not just crowds - the winds up high were very strong (60-80MPH) and it was cold. The lady that got hurt on Franconia Ridge must have been frozen having waited on the ridge for hours to be rescued.

I actually planned to traverse from Lincoln Woods to Skookumchuck, but after getting blown over 2x just on the short exposed section of Flume, I decided to bail out down Falling Waters. I was shocked when I got to Little Haystack and saw multiple dozens of hikers out on the ridge. (I still bailed out.)

 

[DayTrip]

It was insane up there, especially on Saturday. And not just crowds - the winds up high were very strong (60-80MPH) and it was cold. The lady that got hurt on Franconia Ridge must have been frozen having waited on the ridge for hours to be rescued.

I actually planned to traverse from Lincoln Woods to Skookumchuck, but after getting blown over 2x just on the short exposed section of Flume, I decided to bail out down Falling Waters. I was shocked when I got to Little Haystack and saw multiple dozens of hikers out on the ridge. (I still bailed out.)

A few years ago I did the Ridge (up Falling Waters, down Greenleaf) purposely on a crappy early March day (temps 20's to low 30's, 20-30 mph sustained winds with higher gusts, and rain/sleet/fog) to test my gear and general preparedness for such things should I ever find myself in that scenario unexpectedly. I saw a minimum of 50 people that day including a new Winter hiker who kind of latched on to me on the way up that I finally convinced at tree line that he was in over his head and should turn around. I don't think there is ever a time now, no matter what the weather is doing, that you won't find people on the Ridge and most won't be properly equipped for the situation.

 

[CaptCaper]

I came up thru the notch yesterday afternoon with wet snow rain etc. and artist bluff had still alot of people. Blessed to be living here.

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

Report of the rescue on Franconia Ridge last Saturday that I mentioned above.

This one says that she was transported by personal vehicle for medical attention after being carried the entire way. The thing I read on Monday said she drove herself, and I was wondering how somebody that needed to be carried 4 miles down a mountain could possibly drive themselves anywhere...

https://www.masslive.com/news/2024/...scued-while-hiking-franconia-ridge-in-nh.html

 

[KRooney]

According to the link above "Meier was taken “from the trailhead by [a] personal vehicle for evaluation of her injury,” so it could have been a friend or family member who did the driving.

 

[TomK]

I was wondering how somebody that needed to be carried 4 miles down a mountain could possibly drive themselves anywhere...

Could be a simple matter of endurance.

Walking 4 miles downhill on a trail is a different ball of wax than driving in a seated position and then walking 100 feet or so across a paved parking lot to the ER entrance. I can easily see how a person could be capable of doing the latter, but not the former.

TomK

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

According to the link above "Meier was taken “from the trailhead by [a] personal vehicle for evaluation of her injury,” so it could have been a friend or family member who did the driving.

Yes, I know. I said that the report I read on Monday said she drove herself.

 

[TEO]

I drove about 4.5 hours to see my dying father-in-law after being sledded down the mountain with a blown right knee. It would have been extremely difficult, at best, to hike down a trail, but hobbling on a flat surface was manageable. (I skied Airplane Gully two days before my ACL reconstruction several months later.)

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

ok, fair enough. For some reason the picture in my mind of waiting for hours up on the ridge in 60-80 MPH winds to be carried down until the wee hours of the morning only to then hop in the car and drive away (which may not have even happened, I understand that) struck me as amazing.

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

I'm headed out in the morning for a 2 day pemi loop, so hopefully I don't catch any bad karma for thinking ill of somebody unfairly.