Six area search and rescue teams spent over 12 hours in the rain Saturday afternoon and evening, July 29, 2023, rescuing an injured female hiker on Camel’s Hump. The 65-year-old, well-experienced, hiker from New Hampshire fell around 1:30 p.m. and fractured her upper arm. The rescue was completed by 25 rescuers in darkness at 1:30 a.m.
The hiker and her son were in one of the most remote locations in the Camel’s Hump trail system. The hiker was unable to continue due to extreme pain. The trails had become streams and the footing was hazardous. After calling 911, the hikers managed to pitch a tent and remained warm and dry as they awaited rescuers to ascend from the base.
Two EMTs from the Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team located the patient about two hours later and initiated medical care in the wilderness. As teams assembled at the base, they were faced with a patient who didn’t feel she could walk with her injury in very slippery conditions, reported Waterbury Backcountry Rescue team leader Brian Lindner.
The alternative would be to carry her down the Bamforth Ridge Trail towards Bolton but that is a very long and difficult trail requiring a multitude of rope belays over exposed ledges. The second option was to carry her back uphill then descend the easier Monroe Trail towards Duxbury.
Lindner said that after care and splinting by EMTs on scene, the hiker felt she could try to hike with assistance but under her own power. Over the next six hours, despite intense pain, she was able to slowly be guided uphill to a point where she could descend the easier route. An ATV was staged about 1 mile up the mountain and she was able to ride from that point to the ambulance. The injured hiker was transported to the Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin by Waterbury Ambulance Service.
Teams participating were Camel’s Hump Back Country Rescue Team, Colchester Technical Rescue, Huntington Search and Rescue, Mad River Valley Ambulance Service Back Country Rescue, Stowe Mountain Rescue, and Waterbury Back Country Rescue Team.
