March 10th, 2013

3/10/2013

Morning y'all,

It's another beautiful, warm clear day up top. The high yesterday reached 52 degrees. The low was 36 degrees. It was 42 degrees and clear at 7 am observation. The snow is melting rapidly, resulting in dangerous trail conditions. The footing is very unpredictable. The Park Service had a rescue late into the night after someone misstepped and cut themselves. Be careful and do not underestimate the difficulty of the trail just because it's 'nice' out.

Bruce E. link

3/10/2013 01:23:57 am

Welcome to EDT. Feels a little spring time here in SW Ohio.

Debi

3/10/2013 04:17:43 am

Raining in Michigan today and 42. Yeah, melt snow melt, come on mud! I have a yard to clean up.
Gina, I started following Lindsey Gordan on Trailjournals. She starts with her boyfriend Miles March 14th. She is so excitied. I have picked her to follow, because I don't have to read a journal from start to finish all at once. I can live it with her. I read need to find a lady to follow my age that has not run marathons and is not so athletic like Lindsey is. Not knocking her. I just want to see all the aches and pains a older person will go through.

Tony Ga

3/10/2013 09:55:34 am

We hiked up to Springer Mountain today. It was really hazy, they were doing a control burn somewhere and the smoke ruined the views. I took a picture for Debi and Gina that one day they might stand there together before their great adventure. I'll post it on Facebook tomorrow.

Debi

3/10/2013 09:29:16 pm

Thanks Tony

Gina

3/11/2013 01:06:41 am

Thanks Tony. Debi, they post them by age but I have found some off of White Blaze in the 40-60 age range. I will get you there name. I am following a couple of them. I actually check the posts everyday on trailjournals and am following several this year. Different ages

Mike

3/10/2013 04:31:41 am

Good mourning JP. I had the pleasure of working with the NPS last night on the extraction. Kudos to the Park Service team of professionals and volunteers that stabilized and made the patient as comfortable as possible during the extraction that ended at the trail head around 3 AM (DLST) Sunday mourning.
This happened to an experienced hiker that was prepared for the conditions. He was on a very narrow section of trail below Cliff Tops where he met some other hikers coming up the trail and when he turned to give them room to pass, lost his balance and fell about 80 feet sustaining some bad lacerations, one of which was to his neck that produced quite a bit of blood loss.
Remember folks, hiking in these mountains in the winter is not “just another walk in the park”.
Hey JP, glad to see that you got in OK. ; )

Steve D

3/11/2013 02:19:01 am

Mike-I am so thankful to you and the NPS team that are willing to risk their own lives to save someone in a catastrophic situation as that man was. I hiked the Alum Cave Trail Sunday and saw where the blood stain was still in the snow. It was a very narrow spot on that upper section of the trail, and if we can learn anything from that maybe it would be to back up to a wider place to let someone pass. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported on it today, and said the man was taken by Life Star helicopter to UT hospital. No report on his condition yet. I pray for his safe recovery. JP responded as well, and we are very fortunate to have someone living on top during the winter that has such experience as he does.

elktonbrant

3/10/2013 07:42:45 am

I will echo the comments on the trails. My wife and I were blessed to hike Ramsey Cascades trail on Saturday. Going up we were fine for the first two miles, but around the point with the GIANT trees, we were on a mix of snow/mud/muck/mush. Going up was OK, but coming down (about 3 pm) it was VERY treacherous. One step would be gunky mud-- the next, ice-- the next, slush. Honestly, microspikes would've been a liability due to the ankle deep mud, and slides were more common than steady steps.

Granted, the view at the Cascades was phenomenal, BUT we needed 7 plus hours to do what should've been at best a 4 hour hike. We were prepared with full daypacks, plenty of food, and our hiking poles (which saved us immeasurably). I still stumbled 5 times and my wife had a single slide onto her rump... but on Ramsey Cascades there aren't generally the 100 foot drops of Alum.

It was a blessing to be back in the Smokies, as my wife's health (severe allergies) had kept us off the trail since Dec. 2011, when we took some spinach and condensed milk to JP in his first sojurn as our winter muse at the top of our beloved mountain.

doug y

3/10/2013 11:07:02 am

Mike, that is certainly a lucky fellow, to be an extraction rather than a statistic ! I believe I could probably guess where it happened; there's some precarious dropoffs through there. As elktonbrant said: even if you're well prepared, and experienced as well, accidents can happen. For what it's worth, when I encounter others on the trail, particularly coming in the opposite direction from me, and I usually have ample time to make 'allowances' so that they may pass by me, I will stand aside for them, partly out of courtesy, and partly for my own safety, on the upper side of the trail where I'll grab hold of a branch is possible, sit down, or somehow stabilize myself. If I have to position myself on the lower side I try to stand by a good tree. Of course, these are ideal situations, but so far it's worked for me. I'm too bloody old to be tumbling down a near cliff at a nearly 90 deg angle ! The very thought of an accident like that gives me the "willies" !! I hope the fellow recuperates quickly. I, too, Tony Ga, hope that Debi and Gina get to realize that dream. I'd love to live that close to Springer ! Or the A.T. for that matter. Debi: Isn't there a large lake just above the town where you live ? I'd love to spend some time up further north of you at Isle Royale National Park if I have the name right; they say it's a little visited park and simply an amazing place. But the Smokies will do just fine ! I've got to call the office in the morning and see if they've tentatively set a date for the airlift.

Deedee\MI

3/10/2013 02:42:17 pm

Doug; Yes that is indeed Isle Royale National park, and I just attended a presentation a few nights ago by a botanist who'd spent an August there. I would like to go there, myself one day...It is accessible only by a 3-4 hour ferry or a biplane and is quite, quite wild. The wolf/moose populations are studied there extensively due to their isolation.

tomk in SC

3/10/2013 12:59:49 pm

Given that the fall took place just below Cliff Tops, why didn't they take him UP to the lodge then helicopter out from there? The call came in at 4PM. The victim was at 441/AC Trailhead at 4AM. 12 hours. Figure an hour for the team to get to the trailhead and four hours up. 9PM Two hours to treat, rescue and stabilize. 11PM then four or five hours down. Perhaps the route UP was too risky, but that could be done in well under an hour normally. Two hours otherwise. Perhaps the heli wasn't available.
I'm sure it was the right call, just wondering.
Further, the rescue team has to be right on the edge of superhuman. I cannot imagine the physical demands of carrying someone DOWN AC at night. Does the litter have long staves so footing may be seen by the uphill carrier? Is it a four man or two man litter? Is the litter a sling somehow or do carriers need to use grip/arm strength to carry it. That has to burn after awhile. Perhaps the team rotates every few minutes. How many went up? How is the victim?
So many questions.

IN Tony

3/11/2013 02:31:05 am

@tomk:

I cannot answer all of your questions but I will tell you what I have seen before on the ACB trail. Last May a lady stumbled at the upper steps and badly hurt an ankle. As we went by her there were already two emergency personnel with her. On our way down another two had arrived and were waiting on additional help to arrive. Down trail a mile or so the rest of the help were on their way up. Another 4 individuals. The litter was about waist high on inflatable tires. So it looked like it would take about 6-8 people to "wheel" the injured down the trail.
It has to be time consuming because as you are aware in many places the trail is not three people wide. I would imagine it is very difficult for the rescuers as well.

doug y

3/11/2013 01:04:04 am

Thanks Deedee; I looked up some info on that Park and it sure seems to be as you said: wild and remote, not easily accessible; tomk: I agree with your idea regarding that rescue. It seems that it would have been both easier and quicker to go up rather than down. We have to give credits and thanks to the rescuers no matter which method or route they used as it's a logistical difficulty. I don't know if they have one or not, but there is a litter device which is mounted on a single rubber tire centered so that it can be balanced relatively easily by two people sometimes; I saw a photo of this device not one or two weeks ago somewhere and it looked like a handy tool for use on trails like Alum; The photo I saw pictured it transporting a victim across one of those single log bridges; getting down through Arch Rock would really be tricky, but not unmanageable I would believe. I just hope that fellow is dong allright. Is spring here ? I hope so. But I won't put my winter gear away just yet.

Fraley Family

3/11/2013 03:02:27 am

I read the report of the hiker falling on Alum and wanted to talk to my co-workers about it, then realized they have no clue where or what exactly I'm talking about, and just don't get it. Another reason we visit the blog. Best wishes that he fully recovers and returns to the mountain. Thank you to JP and the NPS for your efforts.

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March 10th, 2013

LeConte Lodge

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