Pushing the hiking season in Maine - Rescue

[peakbagger]

Still winter like conditions in Maine. Not a lot of details. It my be during the day but below freezing at night and still plenty of snow in the woods up high

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/04/22/central-maine/central-maine-police-courts/hiker-saved-appalachian-trail-maine/

[LoneStranger]

They got wet, they got cold, they couldn't light a fire, they called for help. Walked out under own power once they weren't cold and wet.

April is always a stupid month in the mountains. Beautiful at times, but too many ways to get hurt and ruin your season. Better to avoid the risk than screw up your Summer. Learned that years ago in the Pemi trying to ascend Cedar Brook trail on rotten April snow. Snowshoes would punch through into voids under the snow and I'd have one foot on the surface with the other hip deep, dangling in the air.

If the broken bones don't get you that whole wet, cold thing will if you aren't smart. Always good to have plenty of dry layers stashed in the pack so you can swap them out. Much better to change clothes and keep moving than waste time trying to make a fire to dry out, especially if you can't make a fire. Thankfully they were only on Little Bigelow rather than up high on the ridge. Might have been stiff by the time rescue arrived up there.

[BillyGr]

April is always a stupid month in the mountains.
Even the tiny ones when it comes to Maine. We were up there around this time of April a few years ago, camping in a campground right off Route 1 around Wells and hiking on Mt. Agamenticus (which barely qualifies as a mountain) and had rain showers that turned to sleet and by the time we got back to the campground everything had a light coating of white on it. Okay, more like a heavy but thin coating of white, since it was that mixture that sticks to everything and weighs quite a bit while being a fairly thin layer (the stuff that takes down branches easily).

[LoneStranger]

Even the tiny ones when it comes to Maine. We were up there around this time of April a few years ago, camping in a campground right off Route 1 around Wells and hiking on Mt. Agamenticus (which barely qualifies as a mountain) and had rain showers that turned to sleet and by the time we got back to the campground everything had a light coating of white on it. Okay, more like a heavy but thin coating of white, since it was that mixture that sticks to everything and weighs quite a bit while being a fairly thin layer (the stuff that takes down branches easily).

That would be an embarrassing mountain to freeze to death on in April :)

It really makes the point though; A wet, mild cold will kill you much faster than sub zero temps where you can keep dry. I love to do multi night trips in the deep cold, but 25-40 with rain scares the heck out of me. That is skip the trip and stay home weather for me.

[Deadeye]

The month ain't what's stupid here.

[LazyLightning]

I agree the most dangerous temps are when it's just warm enough to be rain or a wet snow, I'd rather hike in a 10 degree snow storm any day.