Aroostook Search and Rescue

10/20/2026

Orange looks great anytime of year, especially when it’s “in season” 🦌🎃🧡🍊

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CAVLDC15w/?mibextid=wwXIfr

10/13/2026

We couldn’t say it better! Social media is a tool but needs to be paired with other tools for success.

09/30/2026

Fall colors 🍁🍃🍂 and falling temperatures make for some great exploring in the backcountry. Layering properly can help adapt to the temperature changes and make for much more comfortable experiences.

09/22/2026

Well written words every hiker in Maine can learn from. Our deepest sympathies go to the family and those directly and indirectly affected.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17Wf1JpSHR/?mibextid=wwXIfr

This is a difficult story to read, and an equally difficult one to discuss.

Last week on Katahdin, 64-year-old Bert Goris was found incapacitated on the Hunt Trail during extremely challenging weather. Reports describe rain, strong winds and a wind chill near 20°F. He was having difficulty speaking and moving and had an apparent leg injury.

Two separate hikers stopped to help.

One reportedly left Goris with a tent, sleeping bag, emergency blanket and additional shelter. Another later encountered him and added another sleeping bag. Ultimately, both hikers continued down the mountain when the conditions began putting their own safety at risk.

Goris was later evacuated by rescuers and pronounced dead. His official cause of death remains under investigation.

It is tempting, especially knowing the outcome, to ask why someone didn’t simply stay with him until rescuers arrived.

But incidents like this are rarely that simple.

One of the fundamental principles of wilderness rescue is that we cannot create additional patients. Staying with an injured person in freezing rain, wind and deteriorating conditions may be exactly the right thing to do — until remaining there places the rescuer in serious danger as well.

Ideally, when we encounter someone who is injured, unable to move effectively, or showing signs of significant cold stress, we want to:

• Get emergency services/SAR activated as early as possible.
• Protect the person from wind and precipitation.
• Insulate them from the ground.
• Replace wet clothing or add dry insulation when possible.
• Use sleeping bags, emergency blankets, bivy sacks, tents or whatever shelter is available to slow further heat loss.
• Stay with them while help is coming — if we can do so without becoming another victim ourselves.

From the information released so far, the hikers who encountered Goris appear to have done a great deal with the equipment they had while also having to make an extraordinarily difficult decision about their own safety.

There is another lesson here for all of us who travel in the mountains: your emergency gear isn’t necessarily just for you.

That extra layer, emergency bivy, insulating pad, headlamp or sleeping bag may someday be what keeps another person alive while help is on the way.

Our thoughts are with Bert Goris’ family and everyone involved in this incident.

Be prepared. Look after one another. And remember that sometimes good decisions in the mountains can still have heartbreaking outcomes.

(Image from Mount Katahdin’s Hunt Trail. File/reference photo; not from this incident. Credit to ADVcollective)

09/11/2026

09/11/2026

Colors 🍁🍂🍃 are starting to change and temperatures are cooling comfortably which has more people venturing out into the woods.

Please be aware of items that seem out of place and “if you see something, say something”.

A few important points to remember:
🛑 Don’t touch!!!!
🛑 Do not send photographs to anyone other than law enforcement (if requested), do NOT post on social media.
🛑 Do not talk about what you found beyond the inquiry of law enforcement unless they specifically say it’s ok.

09/04/2026

AI, like many other tools, has some great uses including the outdoors. BUT it isn’t a perfect solution and should be validated by other sources and local knowledge whenever possible. Please take a minute to read as a learning opportunity as opposed to a judgement opportunity.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1bMgHSivm8/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The group of novice hikers made an unanticipated overnight stay while lacking the food, water, warm layers or other equipment needed for dangerous terrain. They told authorities they heavily relied on bad AI advice to prepare for their trip.

08/30/2026

Use the technology available to you in an emergency, but also understand its limitations.

08/25/2026

This is an exceptionally well written write up of an incident in NH that everyone outdoors can learn at least one thing from.

We extend our wishes for a speedy recovery to the person involved.

08/16/2026

Two is one and one is none. 🔦🔦 Your phone should NEVER be counted as the light.