In more than 30 years he spent as a law enforcement ranger at Acadia National Park, Chris Wiebsuch has responded to hundreds of rescue and recovery missions.
One that has stayed with him more than others is the death of Douglas Rose, a 20-year-old College of the Atlantic student who drowned in 1993 when a rising tide trapped him in a cave while he was rock climbing near Great Head.
That climbing accident involved two factors Acadia visitors often underestimate: experience and weather, according to Wiebusch, who was a park ranger for 34 years, a volunteer for the local search and rescue team for 32 years and now is a firefighter for the town of Mount Desert.
As the park’s busy summer tourist season hits full swing, park experts are weighing in on how visitors can avoid injuries or, in the most severe and rarest of cases, risk of death. Since 1916, when the national park was established, 93 people have died in the park, according to data compiled by the Bangor Daily News.
“Planning is important, there are certain things you should do if you intend to go for a hike,” Wiebusch said. “We encourage people to think about the weather forecast. If there’s weather moving in in the afternoon, you might want to plan on a shorter hike that day versus trying to go to the very top of a mountain. Along with that, knowing your limits. How fit are you for what you want to do? Because some of these events aren’t precipitated from a fall or a trauma injury — it’s medical.”
Such medical emergencies aren’t unique to tourists, hikers or climbers. A retired COA professor died July 11 in Acadia after suffering a medical emergency while swimming in Echo Lake.
The Great Head cave where Rose died is accessible via two routes: at low tide, climbers can walk in along the shore from the bottom — which is considered the safer alternative, and the only option presented by the Mountain Project, a rock climbing database. But on that October afternoon more than three decades ago, Rose was climbing the cave during high tide — when it can only be accessed through a technical descent from the top of the cliff above it — with fellow student Paul Ryan.
Before Rose could scramble out, as Ryan was belaying him from the cliff above, a fierce storm rolled in off the ocean. Swelling waves trapped Rose in the cave, and he drowned, despite Ryan’s valiant attempt to seek help from authorities at the police station.
Wiebusch was one of two law enforcement park rangers on duty the evening of Rose’s accident. He was first on scene, only to find dark, rainy conditions that kept him from reaching the cave. The young man’s body, still tied to his climbing ropes, was retrieved the following day.
“Some mistakes were made on their part: his partner was a much more experienced climber,” Wiebusch said. “He was able to get out, run all the way down the trail and drive to Bar Harbor — that’s how we got notifications, we didn’t have cell phones back then — and it was just the two of them, so I don’t think anybody else knew they were there.”
Rose’s death is a tragic example of how inexperience and weather can result in catastrophe. Wiebusch identified a handful of safety suggestions he had for park visitors, factors he’s seen prevent or contribute to accidents in Acadia — some of which he says were factors in Rose’s death.
But even in more typical cases, Wiebusch has seen that anyone can get hurt in the park — locals and first-timers, the well-prepared and the unprepared.
“It’s a mix, we’ve helped people who have hiked the trails in Acadia their whole life — and it’s just something that happened and they got hurt — [and] people who’ve never been here before,” Wiebusch said.
Visitors can reduce their risk of injury by taking time to properly plan their trip.
Climbers, hikers, cyclists and any visitors should notify someone of their itinerary prior to setting out in the park.
“That way, if you don’t show up when you think you’re going to be done, somebody knows where you might be,” Wiebusch said, adding that doing so makes it easier for rescuers if a person is injured during the off-season when far fewer people walk the trails. “We’ve had this happen in the park where somebody comes across somebody who’s hurt, and they’ve been there for a long time and nobody knows they’re there. And it’s just happenstance that somebody came across them.”
Winter, when Acadia gets a small fraction of the visitors it gets in mid-summer, can pose particular hazards in the park. In late January, 24-year-old Christian Leveron died from drowning and hypothermia after high tide trapped the Maryland man by himself on Bar Island. The island is connected by a sand bar to downtown Bar Harbor for roughly three hours a day, before and after low tide but outside of those hours, high tide covers the bridge and leaves anyone on Bar Island stranded for nine hours.
In March 2021, two hikers, Kassandra Caceres, 30, and Wayne Beckford, 28, fell to their deaths while hiking up Dorr Mountain. The couple appeared to have slipped off an icy cliff and fallen approximately 100 feet.
Regardless of time of year, hikers should especially consider the weather if they’re travelling with a pet, Wiebusch said. He has been involved in canine carry-outs, including a Newfoundland who barely survived a summertime hike up Dorr Mountain.
Hikers should watch for slippery granite after rain — a clear day following a storm often fools people into thinking trails are dry, Wiebusch said. Wet conditions can result in an island injury so common that it has become known locally as “Acadia ankle.” On Wednesday morning, rescuers were carrying out a hiker who had injured their ankle on the summit of Acadia Mountain, Wiebusch said.
Denise Chandler, an Ellsworth emergency room nurse who founded the guided Acadia hiking company First Light Hikes, said she advises hikers to maintain three points of contact on the trail — two feet and a hand, or two hands a foot, on rock or ground at all times.
“So many people go out hiking, especially in Acadia, with flip flops,” Chandler said, adding that hikers should be sure to wear appropriate footwear. Trekking poles can also add stability, especially on descents, she said.
Visitors should also ensure they’re adequately packed for their adventure. Hikers should have a compass, and know how to use it, or other reliable navigational device that doesn’t need cell service.
Wiebsuch warned travellers against relying too heavily on cell phones to access online trail maps or use as flashlights, both of which drain battery power quickly. Instead, the veteran rescuer proposed visitors bring a headlamp or small flashlight.
Aside from food and water to refuel along their journey, visitors should bring a small first-aid kit with basic supplies, like a cold pack and gauze, for themselves or in the event they come across an injured party on the trail.
Wiebusch recommended packing a lightweight space blanket — a thin sheet of plastic made with reflective material for insulation — a whistle and matches or a lighter in a waterproof container. Trekking poles can be used with a space blanket for temporary shelter.
“These are all small things that fit in a day pack, that really don’t add a lot of weight and that can provide you or somebody else you come across with protection until somebody comes,” Wiebsuch said.
Hikers have injured themselves all over the park, but some of the most common sites are, unsurprisingly, also the most popular spots, such as the Beehive trail and Acadia Mountain. More injuries occur on the lower section of the Beehive, the trail’s easier portion, than along the upper half, which is famous for its iron rungs and steep staircases, Wiebusch said.
Ocean Drive is one of the most popular visitor destinations in the park, but the shoreline it skirts can be underestimated by scramblers who crawl too close to the coastline’s sloped cliffs along the road, Wiebusch said.