Sierras Worst Nightmare!
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ImYourHuckleberry
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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.)
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
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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
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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
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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
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
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.
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
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Yes, I know. I said that the report I read on Monday said she drove herself.
TEO
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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
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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
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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. 
ImYourHuckleberry
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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.
Pulled it off with only moderate suffering, so no bad karma thankfully! (I have no idea how so many people can do this hike easily in a day.)
My name is definitely not on that list anymore. It's possible that it never was.
Andrew
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Employed by a NH state agency performing S&R, with 8 of those years as the incident command; this used to bother me. I followed a policy that all litter carry's the patient would only be delivered to an ambulance; the patient could work it out with them to refuse care/transport if desired. The thinking being that the pt had called for our assistance that they were medically unable to extricate themselves, us responders were skilled in the stabilization and extrication of the patient, but not a determination of the medical condition of the patient to release them on their own. Not being doctors we wanted to deliver to definitive care that was beyond our expertise. I guess the F&G command might be in contact with their medical control (who is often a doctor at a hospital) to make this determination. I was doing this around 20 yrs. ago- so communication to the outside world was not quite as easy.
I fractured my fibula a little over a mile up a steep mountain trail once and tightened my boots to handle the presumed sprain and hiked down. Took an increasingly long amount of time and energy as I became slower and overcome by pain to the point that the last bunch of 100 ft rest and moves were difficult and near impossible. I drove home and it was very difficult to drive if near impossible to push the clutch with my damaged left limb. I should not have driven as it put others on the road at risk.
Depending on one’s insurance, an ambulance transport can be an expensive ride, like thousands of dollars. And you end up at an ER where more money is charged. Some folks just can’t afford it.
I think I read this person did have a HikeSafe card, so that shows some level of responsibility.
I think I read this person did have a HikeSafe card, so that shows some level of responsibility.
Andrew
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Too true Chris. One of my biggest regrets during that career period, was calling in an air ambulance for a subject exhibiting all indicators of imminent cardiac arrest high on the mountain, that subsequently turned out to be cumulative response his body was having from exposure to toxins at his workplace. He was convinced by fellow patrol staff to take the ride he really didn't want, and the bill I recall was over 10k (negotiated down). But what could we do with very late in the day with a winter storm heading in, seemed the right call at the time...
TEO
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It sounds like your colleagues and you did exactly the right thing. The regret should be that he was billed at all.
I’ve read some medivac operations, encourage local EMTs to call in their services even if not absolutely necessary.
helmethiker
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Regarding billing for the not-actual cardiac arrest medivac - someone has to pay the pilot, fuel and helicopter maintenance. The solution we have now is to bill the "patient".
Before this thread gets too far off track - as for who pays the expenses for medevac helicopters for mountain rescues- I think the answer is we all do with our tax dollars, as they are National Guard helicopters.
