A low-flying Army National Guard helicopter located a group of kayakers including several Dartmouth students that was believed to be missing early Friday morning, according to kayaker Chelsea Liddell '11. Although group members had prepared for the possibility of spending a night outdoors while kayaking in White Mountains National Park, their intent was not communicated to friends who became worried and alerted the authorities when the group did not return, Liddell said.
The four students Liddell, Nicholas Gottlieb '11, Christopher Zentner '11 and Gregory Sokol '10 Th '11 and 25-year-old Dover, N.H., native Andrew Wagner planned a 13-mile kayak trip on the Pemigewasset River that began Thursday morning, Sokol said. When the group decided to spend Thursday night in the wilderness and failed to return to campus, the College initiated a search party.
Group members had all previously participated in overnight kayaking trips and had prepared for the possibility of spending Thursday night outdoors, Liddell said.
"We were hoping [the trip] would take one day and it ended up taking two days and so we found a place to stay overnight," she said. "But I guess that hadn't been communicated to our friends so they got worried."
The Outdoor Programs Office was not involved in planning the trip, according to Brian Kunz, deputy director of the Outdoor Programs Office and advisor to the Ledyard Canoe Club.
"This was not an official trip," Kunz said. "It was organized by students who own their own boats and vehicles."
The Outdoor Programs Office, however, played a crucial role in initiating search efforts for the kayakers, Kunz said. Kunz received a phone call from Ledyard Canoe Club president Kurt Kostyu '12 at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Thursday evening and explained that the kayakers were "overdue," Kunz said.
"They left early in the morning to do a very ambitious trip, and had brought things like snowshoes so they could go really high up to reach a watershed," he said. "They prepared for the eventuality of staying out but did not plan to stay out."
After calling and texting the kayakers several times, the Outdoor Programs Office alerted Safety and Security, which then contacted the dean on call. The dean contacted the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, the entity responsible for all rescues in the state.
"State police went out and found their cars, so they were available to identify their cars at point A and point B because a trip like this requires cars at its beginning and end," Kunz said.
Volunteers from the Mountain Rescue Service and the Pemigewasset Search and Rescue Team participated in the rescue efforts, according to a New Hampshire Fish and Game press release. An Army National Guard Helicopter located the kayakers and ground teams intercepted them to confirm that they were unharmed, the release said.
"The group was reportedly experienced kayakers and made a prudent decision not to attempt the longer paddling distance given the lateness in the day," the release said.
Kunz said he could not recall any similar delays during previous kayaking trips.
"It's unusual for a kayaking trip not to come back," he said. "Trips are sometimes late, but have never stayed out the whole night before."
The students said they believed the trip took longer than planned due to snowy conditions.
"[The trip] we planned even in the best of conditions would have taken a very long time," Sokol said. "I think the amount of snow on the trails added to the time."
The snow impeded the group's ability to traverse some sections of the river, according to Liddell.
"There were snow bridges on the upper part of the river that we planned to kayak and those made it impossible to travel sections of the river that we wanted to," she said.
Although kayakers were prepared to sleep outside, the group had reached a cabin where they were able to spend the night, Liddell said.
"We actually hiked to an Appalachian Mountain Club Hut," she said.
Group members remained confident and were not afraid of the prospect of spending a night outside, Liddell said.
"If we had to stay outside, it would have been cold and not very pleasant, but we were never scared and nothing really went wrong," she said.
Group members sustained no injuries and all three students plan to participate in future overnight kayaking trips, according to all kayakers interviewed by The Dartmouth.
Wagner is an assistant alpine ski coach at the University of New Hampshire.
