The rescue of a hiker who suffered a significant injury near the summit of New Hampshire’s Mount Madison Saturday required a massive effort out of crews from both Maine and New Hampshire and included carrying the injured hiker throughout the night.
At approximately 2:30 p.m., Jason McDonald, 48, of Aurora, Colorado tripped and fell while negotiating a rocky incline in the Osgood Trail at the intersection with the Howker Ridge Trail. As a result of this, McDonald sustained a significant lower leg injury that left him unable to walk.
Following the injury, McDonald deployed a personal locator beacon to signal for help. He then crawled around in the rocks until he found his cell phone and made a second attempt by calling 911.
Conservation officers from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department received word of the incident at approximately 2:45 p.m. Due to difficult and remote location of the injury, conservation officers called volunteer search and rescue teams in both New Hampshire and Maine in search of enough manpower to complete the mission. These teams included the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team, Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities (SOLO), Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), Lakes Region Search and Rescue Team and the Mahoosuc Search and Rescue Team. In all, approximately 30 volunteers and six conservation officers responded to the call, with the first personnel entering the woods prior to 5 p.m.
Due to the miles of uphill hiking required of most of the volunteers, it took until 9 p.m. to get enough rescuers on scene to begin carrying McDonald downhill in a litter. This began an all-night carry by the assembled rescue team.
After what officers described as a “tremendous effort,” McDonald and the rescue team reached the Great Gulf trailhead safely at approximately 5:20 a.m. on September 22. McDonald was subsequently transported by Gorham Ambulance to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin for further evaluation and treatment of his injuries.
Officers said McDonald was found to be an experienced and prepared hiker who ultimately had an unfortunate accident. McDonald had been hiking the Appalachian Trail for 10 days prior to the incident, having started the New Hampshire portion of his hike in Hanover.