Who Will Rescue Me?

Some years ago, In the far north of New Hampshire, I was descending a trail on Sugarloaf Mountain. There are many peaks by that name. This mountain was one of many on my 52 List. It would be my last hike to complete all 52. The mountain is in Stratford, not far from the Percy Peaks.

The hike is not a long trek, but the area is remote. The trail head can be reached by the rough unimproved roads in the Nash Stream Forest.

I had hiked to the summit, and was descending at a quick pace. Perhaps too quick. I guess I was spooked by the solo hikes I had been taking up in the wilds of northern New Hampshire, and wanted to get down and out.

The trail was wet. Morning dew drenched every surface. Usually very careful, I placed a foot on a slippery rock, and even with a trekking pole, I fell, landing on my left knee.

I felt a sharp pain, and with the boost of adrenaline, I immediately rose to my feet. A wiser choice would have been to stay put and assess injury, but I panicked a little.

I could stand. My leg was not broken. I was bleeding, but not profusely. My knee hurt badly. I sat, cleaning up and bandaged the cut with gauze and tape from my first aid kit, cursing my carelessness.

I was lucky. I could walk, albeit slowly. The distance to the car was reachable. I could drive to help once I was down if necessary. As I descended, the pain grew less. I did pass a few hikers going up. I was hobbled for a week after, with a nasty gash. Things could have been much worse.

When Things Go Wrong

“Who will rescue me?” Is a question that needs addressing before that moment has arrived.

In the backcountry, often the best answer is self rescue. If you still have the ability to walk out under your own power, it’s the quickest way to get yourself to safety.

If I had broken my leg, the situation would have been serious.

I was without cell reception. The first thing to do when you need rescue is call 911 or local Rangers. Local rescue teams are the fastest responders in many cases, vs. a GPS emergency beacon. I carried no beacon on this day. Had not the ascending hikers passed by, I could have been there for a while. In many cases, especially winter, minutes and hours count. Early medical attention means fending off infection and complications, not to mention hypothermia. If I had been unable to raise the alarm for help, I would have had to self rescue. I would have dragged myself off that trail had push come to shove. Even if I had been able to get a call through for help, it will be quite a while before it arrives. It can take hours for rangers and local volunteers to assembly a rescue party, locate you and then with a team of at least a dozen to take turns carrying you, get you back to safety. The best way to assure your safety is to do your best to minimize risk in the first place.

I had made mistakes. Years ago I watched on airline disasters. Crashes are rarely the cause of a single point of failure. Most are caused by “cascading failures” where equipment malfunction, coupled with human error, or weather, defeat the redundancies in the systems.

I had not built in those redundant systems. I had not carried a backup emergency communication device. I had moved faster than taking a safe descent speed. I was alone, and could not send someone for help.

Luckily, I was ok. I began to rethink my communication options and contingency plans for future emergencies. The slip and fall was a “near miss.” I would have to do better.