Rescue crews respond twice in two days to carry injured hikers down mountains

Sat, 07/24/2021 - 3:00pm

    CAMDEN — Camden and Rockport firefighters, Camden Hills State Park rangers, volunteers from Coastal Mountain Rescue team and ambulance crews from North East Mobile Health Services came to the aid of hikers Friday and Saturday, July 23 and 24, when both suffered ankle injuries and needed a lift down the mountains.

    The July 23 call came just before 11:30 a.m. with the report of a 15-year-old female who had been injured while hiking with her father and younger sister on the Camden Hills State Park Adams Lookout Trail, which runs near the summit of Megunticook Mountain.

    The teenager, from Damariscotta, apparently slipped on wet and muddy rocks, hurting her ankle.

    Five park rangers, six Camden firefighters, two Rockport firefighters, one volunteer with the Coastal Mountains Rescue team, and two ambulance crew members with North East Mobile Heath Services climbed to the spot where the teen was injured and carried her down the mountain in a Stokes litter.

    A similar scenario repeated itself July 24, when a man in his late 60s, from Houston, Texas, also suffered an ankle injury.

    That man had been hiking the face of Mount Battie, on the steep Mount Battie Trail, which runs up from Megunticook Street in Camden to the summit of Mount Battie.

    According to Camden Fire Chief Chris Farley, the hiker, in his mid-60s, had been hiking down the trail with his wife when he reportedly slipped on wet rocks while descending and dislocated his ankle.

    Two park rangers, seven Camden firefighters, two Coastal Mountains Rescue volunteers and two EMTs with North East Mobile Health Services climbed to the portion of the steep trail where the man was resting and decided it would be easier to carry him back to the summit of Mount Battie, in a Stokes basket, as opposed to carrying him down the rocky and slippery trail.

    The summit of Mt. Battie is accessible via a road.

    The first responders took it slow and easy back up the mountain, said Farley, eventually transporting the man safely to a waiting ambulance at the top of Mount Battie.