BOWTOWN TOWNSHIP – A 20-year-old man through-hiking the Appalachian Trail drowned while swimming in Pierce Pond Friday evening, Maine Warden Service Cpl. John MacDonald stated early Saturday afternoon in a news report.
The man's identity is being withheld until family can be notified, he said.
Pierce Pond is about four miles west of Caratunk on the Appalachian Trail in Somerset County.
According to witnesses, MacDonald said the man had hiked nearly 20 miles on the Appalachian Trail earlier in the day, and then attempted to swim across a small cove near the outlet of Pierce Pond.
"The man went under about 35 yards from shore," he said.
"Rescue personnel eventually located the deceased in nearly 15 feet of water, but could not retrieve him."
At 11:30 p.m., Warden Sgt. Glenn Annis, Wardens Josh Bubier, Dan Carroll, Kris MacCabe and volunteers retrieved the victim, MacDonald said.
Pleasant Ridge firefighters and Upper Kennebec Valley Ambulance personnel assisted at the scene.
An Appalachian Trail through-hiker is a hiker or backpacker who is trying to walk the entire 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, or Maine to Georgia, in one uninterrupted trip.
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A Fallen Comrade
Once you spend some time on the AT you change. You become bonded after packing 80+ pounds in the pouring rain for five days. I wish their were some way I could express my feelings for their loss to family and friends.
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I wish the article indicated whether the hiker was at the beginning or the end of the Trail. It's still a tragedy regardless....
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Kudos AwardedAgree (1)
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If he'd hiked 20 miles that day he, In my opinion, he was coming from the South with that reckless zeal of making Kahtadin. But that doesn't explain the lack of judgment in attempting to swim Pierce Pond. He would have known better. He could have been coming South which would fit the season for a through hiker and explain the lack of seasoned judgement. It should be easy enough to tell by where he entered the water and was headed. I hope to hear a lot more on this and other events tied to the Western wilderness mountains and lakes of Maine.
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