Be Careful Out There.
Cathedral Trail on Mount Katahdin, was the site of a rock slide that killed a hiker in Baxter State Park about 1 p.m. Saturday. The hikers were at about 4,100 feet, when rocks began to fall. Cathedral Trail in Katahdin’s south basin is where the rock slide happened.
Four former classmates, class of 1971, were about six hours into their hike at Baxter State Park on Saturday when boulders began falling from above. Within minutes, Roger Cooper, who was 52 and lived in Bangor, had died. Another man, Stacey Hall, who is 51 and lives in Somersworth, N.H., was pinned by the shoulder.
Baxter State Park director Irvin “Buzz” Caverly Jr. said the Cathedral Trail will be closed until July 1 to allow officials to inspect the scene and ensure it is safe for hikers. Officials want to determine the extent of the slide, which Caverly said may have been triggered by natural conditions such as the winter’s severe frost and heavy spring rain.
In September 1995, a rock climber was killed in the park while trying to protect two members of his party from a falling rock. Richard Baron, who was 30 and lived in Norwood, Mass., was trying to shield two climbers below him when he was hit by a rock that knocked off his helmet and sent him tumbling.
In 1986, a 16-year-old boy from Dover-Foxcroft fell to his death while climbing the mountain. Derek Quiet fell while he and some companions were climbing off a marked trail near a part of the summit known as the Knife Edge.
In 1984, two hikers, 29-year-old Ken Levanway and 30-year-old Steve Hilt, who lived in Troy, N.Y., were killed in an avalanche on the mountain.
For more information check out the article by Joshua L Weinstein in the Portland Press Herald.
BILKO
