Acadia park hiker rescued after fainting

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK – Rangers carried a local man down from Acadia Mountain after he lost consciousness while hiking Tuesday afternoon.

Arie Lilienthal, 67, of Seal Harbor was hiking with his wife on the western potion of the Acadia Loop Trail when he passed out and struck his head on the ground, said Ranger Rick Rechholtz.

Rangers received a cellphone call about 2:15 p.m., but could not reach Lilienthal for about 30 minutes, because the fire road that is typically used to reach the Acadia Loop trailhead was impassable, blocked by several trees that had blown down in recent storms.

When rangers and members of the MDI Search and Rescue organization reached Lilienthal, he had regained consciousness. However, rangers carried him down the trail – about a 15-minute hike – plus about a half-mile down the fire road, to reach an ambulance.

About 25 people participated in the rescue effort, Rechholtz said.

Lilienthal was then taken to Mount Desert Island Regional Hospital for treatment.

The Acadia Mountain Loop is a 3-mile trail between Echo Lake and Somes Sound. The majority of the trail is not steep, rising only about a mile in elevation. However, the middle portion of the trail is more strenuous, rising 440 feet in six-tenths of a mile, where a hiker must negotiate granite ledges.