An 43-year-old hiker who broke her ankle while climbing Mt. Katahdin's treacherous Knife Edge Trail was rescued by National Guardsmen using a Black Hawk helicopter earlier this week.
According to the Maine National Guard, the hiker broke her ankle on Wednesday, leading Baxter State Park staff to ask for assistance getting the woman off the mountain.
Mt. Katahdin is Maine's highest mountain, and the infamous Knife Edge Trail is as narrow as four feet in some spots, with 2,000-foot drops on either side.
The National Guard said it received the request for assistance around 4:42 p.m. Wednesday and began assembling a flight crew. A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter left the Bangor Army Aviation Support Facility around 5:30 p.m. and arrived at the scene around 6:44 p.m.
With the help of her hiking party, the injured woman relocated to an area below the cloud cover, near the intersection of the Helon Taylor and Knife Edge trails. She was then hoisted by cable to the helicopter and transported to Millinocket Municipal Airport, where she was transferred to an ambulance and taken to an area hospital.
"Having the ability to request federal resources for rescues in Baxter State Park is crucial to the timely extraction from a high mountain wilderness environment," Kevin Adam, director of Baxter State Park, said in a statement.
“We’re glad to have been a part of this success story, working alongside Baxter staff and local first responders,” added Maj. Gen. Douglas Farnham, the Maine National Guard's adjutant general. “On top of our federal mission, it’s our privilege to be able to support our neighbors and communities."
