BAXTER STATE PARK — Rescuers were helping an 18-year-old hiker get to safety after he was injured in a fall on Saturday, park Director Jensen Bissell said.
The unidentified hiker was on the Knife Edge Trail west of Pamola Peak when he fell. Park workers got the rescue call at about noon, Bissell said, and were helping him get to safety along Helon Taylor Trail at about 3 p.m.
“These are the rescues we love to see,” Bissell said Saturday. “The winds are way too high to safely have a helicopter in. We have bad weather approaching tomorrow and this person was high up and in difficult terrain.”
“We like to see it when people can self-rescue — can stand up and walk out of the park under their own power,” Bissell added.
The rescue effort might take another six to eight hours over the difficult terrain, as the pace of the hike out is likely being determined by the injury and the margin needed to maintain safety, Bissell said.
Several rescue teams, including members of Mahoosuc Search and Rescue stationed at Chimney Pond this Labor Day weekend for just this kind of occurrence, were assisting park workers, Bissell said.
The park “is pretty much full” of campers enjoying the Labor Day weekend, Bissell said.
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