December 3, 2024
The Concord Monitor recently reported on the travails of 27-year-old Tristan James Murrin of Virginia Beach. Murrin apparently fancies himself a bit of a hiker, and thought he would climb to the top of Mount Washington, a mountain with notoriously fickle and dangerous winter weather. The mountain is also home to a grueling June road race up the auto road, which is 7.2 miles of anerobic hell, since it is literally all uphill without a single break, ascending 4,250 feet, with a maximum grade at one point of 22%). I ran that race. Twice.
But I digress.
Murrin, who had apparently been hiking various mountains in the Northeast, did something wise: he called the summit and inquired about the suitability of the weather for a solo ascent. He was told that, due to the inclement weather, it was not advisable to hike.
Then, Murrin did something not-so-wise: He hiked anyway. And he made it to the summit. According to Fish and Games officials, he was “woefully unprepared for summit conditions,” and refused to hike back down.
So he made another not-so-wise decision: he forced his way into a State Parks Sno-Cat vehicle, and then refused to get out when requested. Adding to the situation was the fact that he was hiking with a large dog.
Fish and Game drove him to the base of the mountain, where Murrin “refused to cooperate any further with the Conservation Officers conducting the interview and chose to walk back to his vehicle parked at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center from the base of the Auto Road.
“Due to all the applicable information provided, lack of preparedness, and unwillingness to initially cooperate with State Park personnel, James Murrin will be recommended to receive a bill for the cost of this rescue.”
There’s a lesson here somewhere.