You can go from bright sunshine to near zero visibility in seconds.
Posted on 06/21/2022 12:31:24 PM PDT by SamAdams76
CONWAY, New Hampshire — A hiker who was suffering from severe hypothermia on a New Hampshire trail near Mt. Washington died at a hospital hours after rescuers faced driving rain, blowing snow, and winds gusting to over 80 mph to reach him, conservation officers said.
The hiker was rescued from Gulfside Trail on Saturday night. Xi Chen, 53, of Andover, Massachusetts, was overcome by severe weather conditions.
Fish and Game Department officers said they heard from his wife, who said she received a text from Chen saying he was cold and wet and couldn't continue on.
“He further wrote that he felt he would die without a rescue," the department said in a news release.
Conservation officers received multiple rescue calls that day from hikers who were on the high-elevation summits and ridgelines of the Presidential Range.
“The conditions in the high peaks were treacherous," the news release said.
Rescuers carried Chen over a mile up to the summit of Mt. Washington, where he was placed on a truck and driven down the mountain's auto road to a hospital in Berlin. He was unable to be revived after several hours of life-saving efforts, the news release said.
A service acquaintance of mine went on to retire, achieve legendary status amongst his peers and was quite active in The Great Outdoors, I think they found him up in Idaho or Wyoming and he was next to a tree. He’d been out skiing and the weather must have abruptly turned and he sought shelter next to a tree and expired. Apparantly there was no indicatation that he was broken or wounded before he sought shelter.
“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.”
The secret is to not put yourself in such a situation.
I enjoy horse trails, preferably without horses.
“Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288.2 ft”
This is like nothing - I mean, I know it can get really bad at lower elevations, but.... I feel sorry for the poor guy, he should have taken more gear. There is always a chance for lightning and sudden storms on peaks.
Note: The house where I live is at 8,600 feet in Colorado. There are peaks that are a lot higher all around. Haha, if you want to go climbing you have to wait until mid-June a lot of the time, because there will be ice on the slopes. The hiking trails may be open after Memo Day, but if you go above a certain altitude, even on a hot day you may be snowed on and there are warning signs in all the national parks near peaks and mountain trails telling folks to watch for lightning.
RIP Mr Chen. Now you can visit the Himalayas if you want to, and not have to worry about a sweater.
They’ve got signs on the entrance to all the hiking trails in the Presidentials - people have died from severe weather. Myself, been all over those mountains. Did all 48 4000 footers, some multiple times. Many, many overnighters, mostly primitive camping outside of the tent sites. But, when in doubt, there is no doubt. There were a few days I just decided nope.
My opinion: if the guy was coherent enough to send a text, he should have been physically able to make it to the road. Probably just gave up mentally.
Reminds me of the train ride my wife and I took back in late September of 2000 on the Durango to Silverton run on the old steam train.
Silverton is at 10,000 feet in elevation, so of course I took a tote bag filled with jackets, sweaters, scarves, hats and gloves. My wife was incredulous, but when we got to Silverton it was blowing 30 mph and snowing. We put on our winter gear and went about our afternoon.
Many people boarded the train in Durango wearing shorts, flip flops and tank tops, and didn’t have anything else with them.
Whoops.
Back in the day I did the bicycle hill climb race there. Beautiful warm and sunny at the start, 40 degrees and 10 foot visibility at the top.
Wow…in June. R.I.P.
I have work counterparts in New Hampshire. They told me this past weekend it was in the 40s and 50s and they were pulling out the jackets in the evening.
And here I am in the A/C while it’s in the triple digits outside.
One of my favorite things to do is sitting on the back porch of the Mt Washington hotel and just hanging out.
Doesn’t that look inviting!
Heck we were in the 50’s this past week here in Western Pa.
You can go from bright sunshine to near zero visibility in seconds.
We climbed it in the summer of 1991, I recall seeing some signs with details on the deaths (back then) of over 100 hikers and most of the dates that they perished were either in May-June or October-November. I suppose from December to April there is too much snow at lower levels to invite anyone to start out (although well equipped hikers do venture up in the winter season).
A few of the deaths were caused by flash floods at night, camping in a gully near a roaring mountain creek might seem attractive as long as there isn’t a thunderstorm. Those creeks can overflow in a matter of minutes. Most of the deaths occur about two thirds of the way up when hikers are out beyond the tree cover and into the tundra environment near the top. The climate at the summit is not a lot different from central Labrador or northern Quebec and may even be colder in the summer months.
I’ve thought about doing some hikes in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to take in the fall colours in that locale. No doubt that it would be prudent to know what you are doing and where to safely be when even there.
On some of those deaths, a sudden white out happens and they get confused and go down the wrong side into no mans land.
I’m truly sorry for the poor man, but it’s folly to hike Mt Washington anytime within a fleece and full rain gear. I summitted Mt Washington once, on a picture perfect July day — cloudless, Temps in low 50s— it was still hazardous.
For currency traders, the Mt Washington hotel is a mini mecca. Where the Brenton Woods Agreement was signed in 1944, making the dollar the world’s reserve currency. They have a plaque in one room, commemorating the event. So when you hear that in the news today, you know where it happened.
I, too, avoid mountains and cold weather.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.