MILLINOCKET, Maine – The elderly hiker rescued after 72 hours lost in Baxter State Park was released from Millinocket Regional Hospital on Tuesday and is headed home, a hospital spokesman said.
Virginia resident John Lyon “had a very restful day yesterday and regained much of his strength,” hospital CEO Robert Patterson said in a statement on Tuesday. “He was anxious to get home to Virginia and is flying out today.”
“He again expressed his thanks and gratitude to all who participated in his rescue and to the hospital staff who cared for him once he got here,” Patterson added.
A Maine Forest Service helicopter crew rescued the 78-year-old from a rock slide near Annis Brook at Fort Mountain about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Lyon last had been seen on Marston Trail near Mount Coe on Thursday.
The search began Friday and involved 80 searchers on Saturday and 50 the day after. It was among the park’s longest searches in 40 years, officials said. Efforts to contact Lyon or his friends have been unsuccessful since Sunday.
Park Director Jensen Bissell said that it will be some time before park officials can collate the cost of the search. Park rules allow lost hikers to be charged search costs if hikers get lost due to reckless conduct.
Lyon made errors. He separated from three fellow hikers, lacked a map and accidentally went off the trail, but those actions do not qualify as reckless, Bissell said.
Lyon also did everything he could to be spotted by search aircraft once he realized he was lost, but the foliage made that difficult. Lyon solved that problem by climbing almost to the peak of Fort Mountain, Bissell said.
A retired U.S. Army sergeant major and U.S. Postal Service mail carrier, Lyon also displayed considerable endurance, Bissell said.