The internet has blown up with speculators discussing how two Mount Katahdin hikers died amid obvious warning signs to abandon the risky mission.
By all accounts the most likely reason Esther Keiderling, 28, and her father Tim Keiderling, 58 died was accidental exposure to the cold.
Officials of Rifton Equipment, which employed the Keiderlings, said the pair likely succumbed to hypothermia.
The common refrain among disbelievers when hikers are caught unprepared is “how could this happen? They were experienced.”
If they were experienced, some say, they wouldn’t have taken the hike in the first place. Others, who know how unpredictable Katahdin weather fool the eye of climbers bent on summiting Maine’s highest peak.
The mind can play insidious tricks on even the most cautious and safety-minded. Katahdin’s “tablelands” are vaster than may appear from afar, which can add extra time just to traverse them.
Given the considerable distance to the tree-line from either peak, when you add inclement weather to the mix, it starts to make more sense how things can quickly become precarious.
The hiker deaths may be no more complicated than the recent drowning of a boater in Damariscotta Lake.
The Keiderlings most likely died for the same reason as Richard Eason, 74.
Hikers Keiderling and boater Eason all apparently showed the same kind of judgment that hinged on an instantaneous decision and ended fatally.
The Keiderlings figured they were as prepared for the unexpected as did Eason, who drowned when he tried to swim from shore in an attempt to nab his runaway boat.
Unlucky judgment can also be described as misjudgment, which occurs when our mind deludes us, when we’re bound and determined to succeed even knowing the risks.
“I’m a little nervous about everything I’ve seen about the Abol trail but I’m going to do it if weather permits,” Esther Keiderling posted on Substack before embarking. “If you don’t see me back on Substack again, that’s where I am.”
Judging by that post alone, the Keiderlings were not only aware of the potential risks but were actually taking time to think about whether to proceed.
Eason’s death, however, followed a snap decision to ignore risk and jump in to try to snag his boat, which had floated away into the lake from the shore after he launched it.
In both cases, however, the result was the same – death due to improvidence.
The hikers seemed to know what the experts warn – beware Katahdin’s risks – yet they were either unprepared for the sudden change in weather or possible overestimated their abilities. The mountain can be surprising even for advanced climbers.
Carey Kish, a hiker and newspaper columnist, said that Katahdin can never be underestimated, even if hikers are “experienced.”
“No matter when you go up Katahdin, you have to be prepared,” Kish said. “Even then, the weather can close in and you can lose your way.”
So why go on a hike if you know the result can be fatal?
“Risk-taking creates real changes in the brain,” according to StraightTalkCounseling.org. “When we do something thrilling, adrenaline is released. This leads to a surge of dopamine, which is correlated to feelings of pleasure.”
“At some point in our lives, we all engage in behaviors that are risky or unwise – behaviors that, deep down, we know are not rational,” according to a group of physicians at Psychology Today. “We do it because these behaviors can be exciting and temporarily rewarding. They may allow us to forget about life’s problems for a short time.
“Often, we allow ourselves the occasional indulgence because we think of it as just a ‘splurge’ or reward for ourselves.”
Truly-experienced hikers “are more interested in trying to control the risk rather than the risk itself,” meaning they know when to say ‘no, we’re not doing this,’ according to Emily Hemendinger, University of Colorado School of Medicine professor of psychiatry.
Knowing when to say no can be a lifesaver. Yet we take the risk anyway.
The risks are not only dangerous but expensive.
The average annual cost of search-and-rescue missions in Maine is $500,000 a year, an expense picked up by taxpayers.
Only rarely does the government pass the tab on to lost hikers or their relatives, unless the risk-taking adventurers blatantly threw caution to the wind.
The tragic losses of life on Katahdin this week will likely lead to more questions about how such risks could be mitigated in the future. Would a summit shelter, or some other emergency accommodation have made a difference?
As more visitors come to Maine this summer season to experience the great outdoors, there will now likely be greater awareness of the risks nature poses.
