Kenna Brochu
This weekend Summit Steward Demi Terry had the weekend off, so I traversed the ridge solo and was in for an unexpected weekend.
On Saturday, September 12th, we were predicting a less populated ridge following the holiday weekend the previous week, but this was not the case. Due to the annual Flags on the 48 event, the ridge was insanely busy, with most people congregating on the summits of Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette.
In the morning, I focused on finishing the string fencing project I have been working on for the past few weeks on the north and south sides of Mount Lincoln. This week, I focused on completing the fencing ascending Mount Lincoln from the south, but ran out of string around lunchtime. My plan was to continue the work the following day.
When I ran out of string, I headed to the summit of Mount Lincoln to eat lunch and planned on stewarding there for the rest of the day. I was met with a large and ever-growing crowd of people. I sat at the summit from 12:30–3:30 p.m. and was never greeted with fewer than 50 people. The event brought crowds of people and also restricted the available space on the summit because of the flag installation.
Every few minutes, I was asking people to step back to the correct side of the scree wall, remain on the trail, and respect the alpine vegetation, while also explaining my position and the importance of protecting the alpine zone. Although the numbers for this Saturday were relatively average for this summer season (1,265), this was an extremely overwhelming day because of the concentration of people on the summits.
After my time at Mount Lincoln, I ventured over to Mount Lafayette to meet up with AMC Volunteer Alpine Steward Lindsey Bost. Lindsey, too, was overwhelmed by the crowds gathered for the event. She had a particularly intense encounter with an extremely intoxicated hiker at the summit of Lafayette, who interrupted her during a summit talk and caused a large scene. After discussing the situation with him privately, she could smell alcohol on him and hear empty cans clanging in his backpack. This kind of behavior is not only disheartening to see on Franconia Ridge, but extremely dangerous given the nature of the trail and the descent down the Old Bridle Path that this man was evidently going to have to endure.
In addition to the difficult crowds and intoxicated hiker, we also had a hiker suffer a sprained ankle on the Upper Greenleaf Trail, resulting in a Lakes Region Search and Rescue team litter carry-out. Unfortunately, both Lindsey and I were still stewarding the summits when this occurred, but I heard from other hikers that the injured hiker was able to self-rescue as far as Greenleaf Hut, where the SAR team met her.
An additional search and rescue was performed by the Greenleaf Hut Croo that same night after a hiker mistakenly wandered down a water bar while descending the Upper Greenleaf Trail. This hiker was unfortunately unprepared and unfamiliar with the backcountry and needed assistance from the Hut Croo. Thankfully, he was only around 50 feet away from the main trail, and the Hut Croo was able to locate him simply by calling his name.
Overall, Saturday brought intense and overwhelming crowds. Every weekend we see more and more people traversing the ridge who are unprepared and unfamiliar with the nature of the backcountry and the environment they are traversing.
Sunday, September 13th, and Monday, September 14th, brought a mix of cold temperatures, high winds, and rain. This put me in a position where I wasn’t comfortable traversing above treeline by myself. Instead, I remained around the hut as a resource for hikers. I turned multiple groups away on Sunday who were unprepared for the conditions. On Monday, I focused on pruning and removing branches along the Upper Greenleaf Trail that were infringing on the path.