Maine
A fire starter is an essential tool while hiking in Maine
This story was initially printed in April 2021.
One solution to increase your security whereas mountain climbing in Maine, throughout any season, is by carrying the instruments and correct clothes to remain heat. Even on the peak of summer season, misplaced and injured hikers are susceptible to hypothermia, particularly excessive within the mountains.
“In the summertime we in all probability get extra hypothermia [cases] than within the winter,” mentioned Jim Bridge, a search and rescue teacher with the Maine Affiliation for Search and Rescue. “The reason being, folks comprehend it’s chilly out within the winter, so that they take all the mandatory stuff. In the summertime, folks simply say, ‘Hey. It’s 62 and exquisite and sunny. I don’t must take something further.’”
Two 2021 rescue missions performed by the Maine Warden Service, with the assistance of native search and rescue groups, spotlight the significance of carrying gear to remain heat throughout hikes. Each occurred on Saturday, April 3, a light spring day that was adopted by a chilly evening, with temperatures dipping beneath freezing.
In a single case, a person mountain climbing on the Appalachian Path fell into water and have become severely hypothermic. He became dry clothes, besides, he couldn’t heat himself up. Deep within the wilderness, he was capable of textual content a good friend, who known as 911 on his behalf. When rescuers discovered the hiker, he was unable to stroll. They began a fireplace and provided him meals and sizzling liquids. As soon as he warmed up, he was capable of stroll out of the woods to a ready ATV at about 4:30 a.m.
If he hadn’t been discovered by the rescue crew, he possible wouldn’t have survived the evening, based on a press launch by the Maine Warden Service.
“The scary piece is that it hits your thoughts first,” Bridge mentioned. “The very first thing you begin dropping with hypothermia is cognitive skill, so that you don’t essentially have the power to cease and assume: What ought to I do right here?”
The opposite rescue situation on April 3 concerned a household that turned misplaced on Tumbledown Mountain, a well-liked mountain climbing location in western Maine. It was darkish earlier than the rescue crew discovered the household huddled collectively for heat close to the highest of the mountain. They weren’t sporting satisfactory clothes for the circumstances, they usually didn’t have sufficient meals, water or gentle to make it off the mountain.
Rescuers lit a fireplace to heat the household, then guided them all the way down to the trailhead, which they reached at about midnight.
“In the course of the shoulder season months there’s an enormous danger [of hypothermia],” Bridge mentioned. “Like proper now, it’s a gorgeous, sunny day. Folks may exit in a T-shirt and hike up Tumbledown Mountain, and that’s high quality — in the event that they get again down. But when they get in bother, they’re on the market with out the correct gear.”
Because the rescue groups demonstrated in each conditions on April 3, a small fireplace can assist heat you up in an emergency scenario. It may possibly additionally pace the drying of moist clothes and equipment, along with offering gentle, which can assist increase your morale and function a beacon for rescuers.
A fireplace starter akin to waterproof matches, a lighter or magnesium sparking instrument is a small piece of kit that might make an enormous distinction if you happen to grow to be misplaced or injured whereas mountain climbing.
“It is best to at all times have at the least two totally different strategies of fireside beginning,” mentioned Bridge. “I carry a BIC lighter and waterproof matches in a water-resistant container, and I’ve a kind of fancy spark issues. So I’ve three … it’s like sporting a reserve parachute. You put on it simply in case the primary one doesn’t work.”
Earlier than putting a fireplace starter in your backpack, apply utilizing it at dwelling, steered Sharon Kenney, president of the Maine Affiliation for Search and Rescue.
“Sure, it’s necessary to hold a fireplace starter, however you additionally need to know the way to use it,” mentioned Kenney. “Within the springtime in Maine, when it’s moist, it may be a problem to start out and keep a fireplace. Nevertheless it’s a enjoyable factor to apply, particularly with children.”
Different emergency objects that may assist you to keep physique warmth in an emergency embody chemical warmth packs, sugary snacks and an emergency blanket — or, higher but, an emergency bivvy sack that may utterly cocoon your physique and lure in warmth.
“They’re very small,” mentioned Kenney. “It’s principally a reusable mummy-shaped sleeping bag that has a little bit of reflective stuff to assist replicate your warmth again at you. It’s simple to hold.”
The clothes you put on mountain climbing can even assist you to regulate your physique temperature, Kenney mentioned. Artificial and wool clothes is preferable as a result of it wicks moisture away out of your physique and dries extra rapidly than cotton. As well as, it’s greatest to decorate in a number of layers; that method you possibly can take layers off if you get sizzling, and you may add layers if you really feel chilly.
“For instance, you could be going for a spring hike up a reasonably sized and even small sized mountain, so that you could be sporting gentle mountain climbing pants and a T-shirt with a light-weight hoodie over it,” Kenney mentioned. “Properly, if you get to the highest of that mountain or hill, there’s extra wind up there and also you’re going to get colder quicker. The wind goes to steal the physique warmth from you. So it’s necessary to hold one other layer of heat garments which might be dry akin to a windbreaker and pants.”
In terms of making ready and packing for a hike, carrying a fireplace starter and different gear to remain heat is only one a part of the equation. Different gear akin to a primary help package, navigational instruments, a headlamp and loads of meals and water can be essential for staying secure and comfy within the wilderness.
It is best to carry sufficient on a day hike to get you thru an evening within the wilderness, Bridge mentioned. However that doesn’t imply it is advisable to carry a tent, sleeping bag and pillow.
“You don’t need to be snug, simply survive,” Bridge mentioned. “Then it’s simply a night within the woods to chortle about if you get out.”
Accidents occur. So earlier than happening a hike, inform somebody precisely the place you’re mountain climbing and if you anticipate to return — simply in case. Promise to verify in with that particular person if you get again. That method, in the event that they don’t hear from you, they’ll know the place to ship a search and rescue crew.
“In an emergency, crucial factor for folks to do just isn’t panic,” Kenney mentioned. “And the best solution to not panic is to be ready.”
In case you do end up in bother out within the Maine wilderness, don’t hesitate to name for assist if in case you have the power to take action. Nonetheless, cellphone reception is spotty in Maine, particularly in rural areas. Because of this, many hikers use satellite tv for pc messengers akin to SPOT or Garmin inReach.
“Don’t wait till you’re freezing chilly and it’s already darkish,” Kenney mentioned. “Don’t be afraid to name for assist as a result of there’s a really giant variety of folks within the state of Maine who would like to drop every little thing and are available assist you to.”