A hike Sunday by a New Hampshire/Bridgton man on Pleasant Mountain’s Ledges Trail turned into a recovery mission for local emergency responders.

Bridgton Police Officer Sophia Swiatek, along with Bridgton Fire Department personnel, responded to a “man down” call at 12:57 p.m.

Having hiked the Ledges Trail many times in the past, Officer Swiatek was familiar with the terrain. When she arrived at the trail head at 1:09 p.m, the officer was flagged down by a male, who had made a 9-1-1 call. He told Officer Swiatek that the hiker was about 3/4 of the way up the mountain, and that CPR efforts were already in progress.

United Ambulance and the Bridgton Fire Department personnel arrived on scene shortly after. Officer Swiatek, Deputy Chief Paul Field and the United Ambulance paramedic hiked to the scene. As the rescue team were hiking up (it took about 30 minutes), several people were traveling down the mountain and gave updates that the 74-year-old male was still unresponsive and that CPR was still in progress.

“As we were coming close to the scene, I could see other hikers attempting lifesaving efforts by conducting CPR on the male,” Officer Swiatek reported.

The man had a “hike tracker” on his cell phone, which was still active when rescuers arrived. Based on “tracker” information, Officer Sweater estimated that the man began his hike at about 11:55 a.m. 

Despite advanced lifesaving efforts, the hiker was declared dead at 1:51 p.m. At press time, police did not release the name of the deceased hiker.

The Maine Warden Service was notified. Feeling it would be difficult to transport the victim down the mountain, the Maine Forest Ranger Service was contacted to arrange a crew and a helicopter to air lift the body from Pleasant Mountain’s peak.