ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, Maine – A 58-year-old hiker was airlifted from Acadia National Park’s Beehive Trail as he experienced a serious medical event on Wednesday, September 18.
According to the National Park Service, park rangers responded to initial reports at around 8:00am. A rescue team of 16 people, coordinated between rangers and MDI Search and Rescue, were staged at the trailhead along Park Loop Road. The man’s condition and location about halfway up a near vertical section of the trail led to the decision to call in for a helicopter evacuation from Maine Forest Service.
The helicopter conducted a short-haul operation to bring the man to a field near Sand Beach, where a Bar Harbor Fire Department ambulance met the crew. The man was then brought to the Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor. The trail was closed for about an hour during the operation, with the scene fully cleared by 11am.
The Beehive trail is one of Acadia National Park’s most trafficked route. Hikers ascend a 450 foot cliff trail over a 1.4 mile round trip, taking hikers over steep granite staircases, iron rungs, and cliff faces. It is one of multiple rung and latter routes throughout the National Park.