[joe moving]

Very sad situation. According to the article, parents did not call 911 until the following morning.

The evening before, the hiker had communications to his family at one point. First the family (or hiker) should have called 911 and then tried to get the hikers GPS coordinates and told him to stay put.

In this day of modern cell phones, if you can talk or text, you can PROBABLY relay your own GPS coordinates to someone on the other end. For example, on an iphone, If you turn "location services" on <under privacy settings> for your compass, then go to your compass, it gives you your current GPS coordinates. Pass that info on to authorities and they should be able to get to you.

I know that we have local search and rescue groups who would have been out there ... whether they would have waited until the morning--i don't know. My guess would be knowing he was wet and had only 1 shoe, they would have gone out at night.

In VT, from what I understand, state police will not bill you for a search/rescue but other local groups like Waterbury BC rescue may reserve the right to bill you.

Missing hiker found dead in Fayston - WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-

[harry chickpea]

70lbs of gear and he dies of hypothermia? Whaaa??? I'll try not to be unkind, but this makes NO sense.

[joe moving]

here is another article

Hiker found dead in Fayston area of Long Trail

one more:

http://www.wptz.com/news/vermont-new...-dead/25843568

[arctichomesteader]

Some people get into the woods and panic. When I was working with forests, parks and recreation I had to talk someone off a 1 mile well marked trail who was in a total panic and thought he was going to die in the woods over a phone. These people shouldn't leave the pavement. This person dying is sad but everyone involved did everything wrong, and in Winter, you can't mess around like that.

[Hopes]

Very tragic. My condolences to the family.

[jackmccullough]

The family must be disconsolate. If they had called 911 right away he would probably have been fine.

[Cambium]

So many questions..

So the hiker started the hike Monday, called his dad at 10pm that same day saying he was wet, missing a shoe and cold. Was he hiking all day to find a camping spot?? Was something else said why he lost a shoe and got wet? Did it snow? Did he fall in a creek?

70lbs of gear and he couldn't change clothes or set up a tent? I agree you can get mind crazy hiking in the wilderness so maybe that played a factor.

What was the elevation? How deep was the snow? How far was he from camp site?

So family went hiking in the middle of the night looking for him? Did they bring proper gear too?

Not sure the cops would start a rescue operations 12hrs after the start of a hike but I agree, it was worth a call.

My condolences to the family. Sad.

[Logs and Dogs]

None of this makes sense to me......for all the reasons already mentioned......it makes you wonder if there was something else that impaired the thought process of the hiker. That being said, the rest of the lot sure didn't help things.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Logs and Dogs

.....it makes you wonder if there was something else that impaired the thought process of the hiker.

As if hypothermia isn't enough to impair a person's thought process.

You don't wait until you have symptoms of hypothermia because then it's too late if you're alone. His mistake was not immediately seeking shelter when he got wet and drying off. But many of us have hiked in winter/early spring rain for 15 minutes or after getting wet some other way so we can't really fault him for that error. Everyone does it. Hypothermia can happen extremely fast. It was probably very sudden and then he couldn't think properly.

Instead of being dumbfounded over his death, everyone should take this as a warning. It could have happened to any of us if we were alone. This is why I'm glad my son was a boy scout. Buddy system. Nobody should go into the wilderness, no matter how old, smart, familiar, skilled, or prepared, without a buddy.

Let's review the symptoms of hypothermia to realize it was a miracle he even called his parents.

•Shivering
•Clumsiness or lack of coordination
•Slurred speech or mumbling
•Stumbling
•Confusion or difficulty thinking
•Poor decision making
•Drowsiness or very low energy
•Apathy or lack of concern about one's condition
•Progressive loss of consciousness
•Weak pulse
•Slow, shallow breathing

A person with hypothermia usually isn't aware of his or her condition, because the symptoms often begin gradually and because the confused thinking associated with hypothermia prevents self-awareness.

Hypothermia Symptoms - Diseases and Conditions - Mayo Clinic

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by Hopes

You don't wait until you have symptoms of hypothermia because then it's too late if you're alone.

Hypothermia can happen extremely fast. It was probably very sudden and then he couldn't think properly.

Smart enough to pack 70lbs of stuff but not smart enough to change after getting wet at night? Drugs impair decisions too, nobody should be assuming things right now. Has there been a follow up or more details such as an animal bite or something?

And For those that were wondering... Evening of May 5th at 1100 feet in Montpelier it was 40°. FORTY DEGREES. Not teens. It was low 30's at 5000 feet! It was low 20s at 8000 feet. So how high up was he when he was found?