# AT Hiker Seriously Injured on Mt. Katahdin



## BootJockey (Jun 9, 2004)

Hi All,

This is -almost- EXACTLY what happened to me last October (while hiking the Cathederal Trail on Katahdin), while I was with my friend.  I stepped from one large boulder, out and across to the next.  Both were at an angle, so I was standing on points of the boulders.  I stretched out and across with my left foot, and slowly pulled my right foot over the second boulder, and went to stand up.  When I went to stand up, I forgot to account for the packweight on my back (about 25 pounds), and stood up to quickly...only VERY VERY quick reaction on my part allowed me to quickly regain my balance, but I was tenths of a second from going over backward...My friend was a few steps ahead of me, watching my steps, and I know what look I had on my face...that face of realization you're about to get seriously f***ed up.    If I had gone over backward, I would have hit my head on the large boulder behind me, and that would've been all she wrote.    hahaha...

BootJockey
(I just noticed this guys daughter's name is Alpine...he must have been hiking a VERY long time!)
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Injured Baxter hiker rescued
N.J. man, 3 others were on Katahdin 

BAXTER STATE PARK - A New Jersey man was treated at a local hospital and then released Tuesday after falling from a rock face on Mount Katahdin on Monday and dislocating both shoulders.Vincent Jones, 56, was taken to Millinocket Regional Hospital at 6 a.m. Tuesday after park rangers spent 12 hours rescuing him and two others from 3,000 feet high on the Hunt Trail, according to park naturalist Jean Hoekwater. 

Jones fell six feet onto his back at 12:40 p.m. Monday and became stuck when the pack he was wearing caught between some boulders, Hoekwater said. Jones was immobilized and in severe pain after strain from the pack's arm straps dislocated his shoulders, according to a report by Chief Ranger Chris Drew. 

Other hikers called park staff by cell phone shortly after Jones fell, but weather conditions and mechanical issues prevented a helicopter rescue, Hoekwater said. 

"Sometimes people think [a helicopter rescue] is a fairly routine thing," she said Tuesday. 

Rescuers were forced to hike up the mountain, administer first aid and then carry Jones back down on a stretcher, Hoekwater said. 

Darkness and the difficult terrain of the Hunt Trail - which is part of the Appalachian Trail - slowed rescuers' descent while they lowered Jones over boulder fields, Hoekwater said. 

"It takes quite a few people," she said. "It's always very hard and very slow." 

Approximately 50 people, including volunteers from a nearby campground and a white-water rafting outfit, took part in the rescue effort, she said. 

"We were very fortunate that everything went as smoothly as it did," Hoekwater said. "It's a tough trail." 

Dirigo, Lincoln, Mount Desert Island and Sunrise search and rescue teams assisted park rangers in the rescue, setting up a base camp at Katahdin Stream Campground, Hoekwater said. Jones, his daughter Alpine Jones and a friend had left from the campground Monday morning, she said. 

Jones apparently was dressed adequately and prepared for the hike, though recent rain contributed to slippery conditions on the mountain, Hoekwater said. 

"Even the most experienced hikers have a misstep or a misfortune," she said.


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