DEAD RIVER TOWNSHIP — An injured hiker was able to walk down the backside of Bigelow Mountain with the help of rescuers more than nine hours after he fell and injured his shoulder Tuesday, Lt. Adam Gormely of the Maine Warden Service said.
Rescuers responded to a 10:13 a.m. call to help a hiker on the Appalachian Trail.
The injury was not life-threatening, but getting the hiker out of the woods was the hard part because the trail is so remote and fairly steep, said Travis Barrett, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Douglas Doane, 52, of Atlantic Beach, Fla., suffered a possible broken shoulder on the trail, roughly 1 mile south of Avery Peak in the Bigelow Range in Dead River Township, Barrett said.
Doane was about 3 miles from a road, Barrett said.
Rescue crews, including NorthStar Emergency Medical Services and Maine wardens, worked throughout Tuesday to get Doane off the mountain. He walked out at about 7:30 p.m., Gormely said.
Doane was taken by ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.
He had been “sectional hiking” — that is, he’s not attempting the entire Appalachian Trail but hiking portions of the AT, Barrett said.
Doane was with a niece, Gormely said.
dperry@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
