ACADIA NATIONAL PARK — A California man has been taken by helicopter to a Bangor hospital after losing his footing Wednesday while posing for a photo near the top of Cadillac Mountain, according to park rangers.
It is the fifth rescue by Acadia rangers of an injured or lost hiker in the past three days, rangers said.
The 62-year-old man injured Wednesday on Cadillac is from Santa Monica, Calif., rangers said. He tumbled approximately 30 feet down a steep incline around 11:30 a.m. after stepping off a paved walking path near the mountain summit, according to Ranger Richard Rechholtz. The man, who was in and out of consciousness after the fall, is believed to have sustained significant internal injuries, the ranger said.
In keeping with park policy about injured or lost park visitors, Acadia officials did not release the name of the injured man.
Park rangers were near the summit when the accident happened and were at the man’s side within a few minutes. A LifeFlight helicopter was called, but the helicopter could not respond right away, Rechholtz said, so a Bar Harbor ambulance drove to the summit and took the injured man to Mount Desert Island Hospital. LifeFlight took him to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor on Wednesday afternoon.
In another incident around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, a woman hiking with a man tripped and hurt her ankle on the rocky shore along Ocean Drive, near Sand Beach, rangers said. She had to be carried about 100 yards to an ambulance on the road by rangers and members of Mount Desert Island Search and Rescue and then taken to MDI Hospital, they said.
On Monday, rangers responded to three incidents of hikers who needed help. A 74-year-old man from Washington, D.C., tripped while hiking up the western face of Cadillac Mountain, according to Rechholtz. The man had a minor injury to his knee, but rangers were more concerned that he wasn’t feeling well and had a history of medical issues. Rangers carried him up to an ambulance at the summit.
At Schoodic Point, one woman from Hancock fell into a rocky crevice at the shore and severely injured her neck. She needed 30 stitches in her head and had to be carried to safety by rangers. About a half-hour later, around 4:30 p.m. Monday, a woman from Tennessee got lost hiking by herself on the Anvil Trail at Schoodic Point. She called 911 on her cell phone and, after describing her surroundings to rangers over the phone, was found safe and sound around 5 p.m.
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