Quote:
Originally Posted by Susie Cougar
... He didnĀ’t leave until 11:00 AM with only five hours of daylight for an 8 hour hike.... I did read that they had put up an additional hundred or so signs on the trail heads warning people of the conditions on the mountains.
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I really doubt that Li's death was anything but just another case of a lone hiker unfamiliar with the terrain up on the ridge in winter conditions, in the extreme weather up there that day, and lacking some essential equipment for such a hike. Of critical importance, ultimately, was his not having any light source, such as a headlamp, for descent in darkness. From this source:
https://www.boston.com/news/the-bost...f-lone-hikers/, “He was wearing goggles, but… we could not find any kind of a light source that would’ve aided him after dark. Simply just finding the trail markers without a light in pitch black is next to impossible.”
The popular Lafayette-Lincoln loop takes you up the Old Bridle Path (3 miles to the hut, 1 more to Lafayette @5260 ft), south along the ridge trail, over Lincoln (5089 ft) and on to Little Haystack (1.7 miles totally exposed). At LH, not on the 48 list despite being at 4760 ft, there are trail signs, including one for taking the Falling Waters Trail down to the highway (another 3.2 or 3.3 miles). From the top of Little Haystack, the trail drops down almost right away into the trees, affording a lot of protection from the winds.
Given where Li was found, in a ravine between Lincoln and Little Haystack, most likely he ran out of daylight, came to the shallow col between those peaks, and mistakenly headed downward rather than continue on to the trail junction at Little Haystack. Even then, without light, he perhaps would have missed the signs and kept heading down the ridge toward Mt Liberty. If he only had light, by starting the hike at 7-8am rather than 11 or by bringing a headlamp along (an essential item), he might well have finished the hike alive.
Also noted in the article is this: "While tragic deaths of young hikers have drawn more attention in recent years, officials said, there has not been an increase in fatalities. Li’s death marked the 21st hiking fatality of the year for New Hampshire, making 2022 consistent with the past four years, which saw an average of roughly 22 fatalities per year, officials said."
Further information on the trailhead signs is here:
https://www.mountwashington.org/abou...ckcountry.aspx
Many hikers continue hiking the White Mountains through the winter. One good source of trip reports is here:
https://www.newenglandtrailconditions.com/nh/