Searchers, wardens find overdue hiker on Snow Mountain
ALDER STREAM TOWNSHIP - Employees of a local fish and game club and Maine Warden Service personnel located an overdue hiker on top of Snow Mountain Thursday evening.
Rudy Graf, 79, of Newcastle, left Megantic Fish and Game Club in Seven Ponds Township at 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, according to Maine Warden Service Cpl. John MacDonald. When he didn't return at the expected time, an employee from the club hiked the summit and was unable to locate the missing hiker.
Wardens Scott Stevens and Kris MacCabe responded to the Snow Mountain Trail and took ATVs as far up the mountain as possible, then hiked. Meanwhile, two employees of the Megantic Fish and Game Club hiked the mountain from the camp side. Those employees located Graf on a ridge near Snow Mountain Pond.
"He had settled down and made a fire," MacDonald said, "after realizing that he had taken the wrong trail back down the mountain."
Graf and the employees met up with the wardens and were taken back to waiting vehicles. Graf was in good condition, MacDonald said, "with proper clothing providing a good source of heat."
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good job with the rescue!!!! Quick response time.
Kudos to all involved. It is good to know that the Megantic Fish & Game Club still maintains a high degree of diligence for its guests safety. It is not an invasion of privacy to sign out prior to a hike and give an approx return time, especially when you are way up in the wilderness. I worked for them back in 1972 as kitchen staff and I was very impressed then by the caliber of the guides they employed. The simple safety rules they imparted to me and another young girl who was there working in camp at the same time, as we often did quick hikes between shifts to nearby ponds for swims. It is so good to know these camps still hire the same quality of people who can find a lost man very quickly. Kudos. And good job to all involved.
Fantastic. Atta boy Jake! Keep up the good work. God Bless.