…“great smoky mountains” FB page posted about a stranded hiker this a.m. that they would perhaps have to airlift out of the snow…hoping for a good ending to this story…prayers…
maw-ee (aka maw)
Hiker rescue in smokies
system
#2
The AT Hiker in the Smokies has been airlifted off the Trail between Pecks Corner and Tri Corner. Successful rescue by Park Rangers! Haven’t heard his condition yet.
Betty Royer
system
#3
Appalachian Trail hiker trapped by snow is rescued
Posted: Friday, November 2, 2012 4:53 pm | Updated: 6:03 pm, Fri Nov 2, 2012.
Appalachian Trail hiker trapped by snow is rescued Associated Press | 0 comments
A man trying to hike the entire 2,180 miles of the Appalachian Trail was rescued Friday after calling 911 to say he didn’t think he’d be able to make it out of a section in Tennessee because he was blocked by snowdrifts up to 5 feet high.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park spokeswoman Molly Schroer said rescuers used two helicopters to lift out 56-year-old Steven Ainsworth, of Washington, N.C. Schroer says Ainsworth was airlifted to a Gatlinburg airport and then transferred to a medical center in Sevierville for evaluation. His condition was not yet known.
Schroer said Ainsworth started his trip in June, heading south from Maine, determined to hike the trail end-to-end in a single season. The trek is known as a thru-hike
Ainsworth had started this section of the trail at Davenport Gap on Monday, she said.
Some higher elevations of East Tennessee started getting snow from Superstorm Sandy on Monday, and by Thursday, the 6,600-foot Mount LeConte on the Tennessee side of the mountain range had received 32 inches of snow.
She says Ainsworth was somewhere on the trail between Pecks Corner and Tricorner Knob shelters when he used his cellphone to call 911 on Thursday afternoon.
The park sent two rangers on foot to try to reach him Thursday. But after a nine-hour hike in steep terrain, high winds and 4- to 5-foot drifts, they had to temporarily take shelter in a cabin to rest.
On Friday morning, Ainsworth again called authorities to say he made it through the night by hunkering down, but park officials did not know if he had any kind of shelter. He told park authorities that he may not be able to walk out.
Journey
system
#5
The television coverage on WBIR in Knoxville showed video of the rescue by helicopter. The hiker, Steven Ainsworth, walked from the helicopter to the ambulance smiling and looked to be in pretty good shape.
Betty Royer
system
#6
If you can hike through Maine under “good” conditions, then you can hike the southern AT in bad conditions. It was probably all psychological for this guy, a southerner, not used to snow, not willing to plod through it, even though that’s exactly what it’s like trying to hike Maine and part of NH without snow.
TR