LINCOLNVILLE — As Midcoast mountains have grown in popularity for hikers of all abilities, fire departments have gotten more savvy over the past years in responding to calls for help. This morning, Aug. 30, was no exception as Lincolnville firefighters mustered equipment to ascend Bald Rock Mountain after a hiker experiencing heart palpitations called 911.

Elevation approximately 1,200 feet, Bald Rock is a favored hike in the Camden Hills State Park. It is an easy to moderate ascent to the summit, which is where the 70-something male hiker took a seat to rest his heart, and appealed to Knox Regional Communications Center in Rockland at 9:45 a.m.

Thirteen volunteer firefighters plus a three-member ambulance crew from North East Mobile Health Services responded driving up from the parking lot near Route 173, along the ski shelter trail to the Bald Rock Trail, which cuts up the mountain.

From there, they moved quickly with a utility vehicle, a Polaris Ranger, that allows for multiple riders to access rough terrain. The goal was to intercept the hiker near the top and transport him down.

“But there was no intercept,” said Lincolnville Fire Chief Don Fullington, Jr. 

As the rescue team was moving up the trail, the distressed man apparently decided to walk down a different trail with two other hikers, using the Frohock Trail.

So, the team descended back toward the parking lot, where the hiker eventually met up with the ambulance crew. After being assessed by the emergency medical crew, the hiker chose not to go to the hospital by ambulance and climbed into a car, with his wife at the wheel.

Chief Fullington said the Bald Rock Mountain trail use has significantly increased this summer, with cars packing the parking lot and roadway, especially on weekends. 

“That trail is really getting used hard,” he said. “Every weekend, it’s full.”

Although they have made several expeditions up Bald Rock in the past, including to extinguish grass fires, the Aug. 30 incident was the first such mountain incident for Lincolnville firefighters this season.

Camden firefighters have responded to several calls for help this year on their side of the state park.

Just one day prior, Lincolnville firefighters responded Aug. 29 to a Route 1 single vehicle crash when a woman, driving north in an SUV just north of the Camden town line, apparently drifted off of the asphalt, over-corrected, and went across the road, traveling 100 feet or so along the ditch, said Fullington.

There were no injuries; however, the SUV sustained damage, he said.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657