Acadia hiker slips, hits head, uses cell phone to seek help

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK – A Canadian woman who went hiking by herself Sunday afternoon on remote trails on the western side of Mount Desert Island ended up being escorted out by rescue personnel after falling and hitting her head, according to a park ranger.

Cindy Dyer, 43, of Nova Scotia had hiked up the Perpendicular Trail on Mansell Mountain and was in the Great Notch area between Mansell and Bernard mountains when she fell around 4:30 p.m., Ranger Richard Rechholtz said Monday.

Rechholtz said Dyer told rescue personnel that she slipped on an icy part of the trail, hit her head, and slid 200 to 300 feet before a tree stopped her slide.

“That’s pretty icy up there,” he said. “She was all alone.”

Dyer had a cell phone, called 911, and was put in touch with park rangers, Rechholtz said. About half a dozen members of the Mount Desert Island Search and Rescue team, including park rangers, responded, he said. The first ranger found Dyer about an hour after she called.

The rescue team considered loading Dyer into a litter and carrying her out, but she seemed to be able to walk. They walked with her and got her back to the parking lot at the south end of Long Pond between 7:30 and 8 p.m., after it had grown dark.

Dyer was taken to MDI Hospital in Bar Harbor, where she was treated for a fractured wrist and was kept overnight, according to Rechholtz. He said she was expected to have been released Monday.

Rechholtz said Dyer should not have gone hiking by herself, regardless of whether she had a cell phone with her. If her cell phone had been damaged when she fell, he said, things could have turned out worse.

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

460-6318