Death on the Northville Placid Trail Article

[Rick]

This is the Article titled "Death on the Northville Placid Trail" that appeared in the July/August, 1993 edition of Adirondac. I scanned the document into MS Word and cleaned it up. If anybody is intersted in receiving a copy, please send me an email at richard.story@sepracor.com

I cannot post it online as I do not have permission from the ADK.

[sacco]

u got mail

[Kevin]

u got (more) mail

[fvrwld]

and even more mail

[Mavs00]

ditto

[mtn.goat]

and some more

[Rick]

And thanks to Redhawk for putting it through the PDF distiller, though I found I couldn't make any changes to it as I no longer a a writer!!!!

[ken999]

Mail sent....

[johnstp]

Ditto

[Mavs00]

Got my copy, thanks Rick.

WOW, very interesting story.

A couple of "Basic lessons" really jumped out at me in this story.

1) Unless you are familiar, and have a good understanding of the area, can read terrain well, or are experienced at bushwhacking. It behooves you NOT to deviate from the trail/itinerary/route you have left behind with friends/family unless it in an absolute necessity.

2) If you do, the "wait it out" school of survival is pretty much out the window. This guy sat and watched "his rescuers" fly over his head daily and "waited it out" in a location they would never have looked.

Best as I can peice together, his body was located somewhere near -THIS X- , It boggles my mind that he could not have made it out. He obviously was real sick, or not familiar enough with the topography of the area to know that had he kept following sucker brook (where he was camped) downslope (even a little each day), it would have eventually taken him to the Lewey Lake Campground. Makes you pause to think "HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SURROUNDING TERRAIN WHEN YOU ARE HIKING".

Great stuff.

This article has got me even more excited for my bushwhack up Lewey Peak this weekend.

[redhawk]

Tim, that hunter from Tupper Lake that died in the lean to on the NPT at Moose Pond a year ago November was from the area, and for all intent and purposes, should have been familiar with it.

The theory is that he got disorientated and wandered around (no compass or maps or gps, wearing cotton fatigues in November). I guess he figured that since it was just a "day trip", there was no need to take precautions........Obviously he was Dead wrong!. The temp was in the forties and it was drizzly and wet (thats the week I aborted my NPT end to end and came out) and he evidently got hyperthermia.

I think the most important thing to remember is that there really are no "safe" adventures. Whatever it be weather, injury, disorientation or even an animal encounter (people have been mauled by Martins, Fishers, beavers, minks, weasels, squirrels as well as the larger animals). anything can happen at any time.

It's always best to prepare and provision for the worst case scenario.

One of the things I love about a gps is that I can plot points where I am closest to a road to get out if I need to, and even if not close, knowing the quickest way to the road if I need to get out is a plus. I have p[eople who will always know where I should be (and will work to get it , IF) and what channel to listen to on the radio for me. I carry maps printed from my software and whatever quads for the area I am in, two compasses and plenty of batteries for the gps/radio/headlamp. Firemaking equipment (always) and a survival blanket in my first aid kit. If you get lost bushwhacking, a distance from any trails a good smokey fire during the day and a bright one at night are your best shots. I also always carry something that is a bright yellow or orange for visibility.

I treat every trip into the woods as if it were my first and could be my last. Color me paranoid but alive!!

[Mavs00]

Hawk, good point.

Lesson # .5 - Proper precautions are always needed for every trip undertaken, so that you can make SOUND judgements in the backcountry. Not that I think that this was really David's main problem. Sure he was low on food, and possibly sick. But was it really crucial to take an unknown trail, in an unknown direction that took him way outside any possible search area in the event he got lost?

If you don't have the tools (maps and compass) or the savy to use them, and unsure of what lies ahead, it seems to me that the last thing you want to do is freelance your way through the woods. Granted, many lost souls do exactly that, and many stumble thier way back home. All I'm sating, is THAT the best approach to take.

Hell, on the NP trail in summer, even if he just sat down in the middle of the trail, someone would have likely strolled by him within a day or two anyway. Certainly less than 55 days anyway.

ANOTHER GREAT POINT:

GPS, I don't always use it, In fact I try not to. BUT you can bet it's in my pack with spare batteries every trip. Right next to my compass and multiple maps.

[Rick]

Mavs,
I lay awake many nights after I read (and re-read) this article and had hiked the NLP wondering how this could happen, the only thing I could ever come up with is simply that Boomhower wanted to be lost for a while (similar to the fellow that was lost for 2 weeks in the High peaks area between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid a couple of years ago) to gain some attention.

Though it will always be unfair of me to state this, I always wondered if being slightly lost played into his equation for adventure and maybe somewhat like Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild) the situation quickly and disasterously spun out of control.

Though I do think in the Alaska situation, McCandless was a bit more knowledgeable and better prepared to sustain himself.

Both seemingly suffered the consequences of not carrying a good map - McCandless in not knowing there was a hand over hand river crossing cable car about a half mile from the Stampede Trail near a USGS river gauging station, and Boomhower for not knowing there was a ranger station 6 miles further on the NLP at Wakley Dam.

You indeed raise a great point - "What is around you on the trails you hike?" Especially on the NLP as you are in some extremely roadless areas for a few days at a stretch.

[redhawk]

There is so much that is mind boggling about this. You could almost use this as an example of "what not to do", right down the line.

How do you not bring enough food, yet carry a Coleman lantern and fuel? No where does he mention trying to light a signal fire during the day. Quickest way to draw attention in the woods is with a smokey fire. He had lantern fuel so he could have gotten something started even if it was wet.

The thing about the Dacks is even though we have these wilderness areas and we can follow trails for miles without seeing a road, I don't believe there is anywhere in the Dacks that if you walk a straight line, especially toward a cardinal Compass Point, that you can go 15 miles without intersecting a road.

This guy just didn't belong in the woods by himself, it's as simple as that. If there is such a thing as being a dead man the minute you start, this is certainly the case.

[ken999]

I have to agree with Hawk here...one of the most important things one needs to be able to do while outdoors is build a fire.