Hiker rescued from 80-foot fall Crews respond to Blue Mountain at Lehigh Gap Nature Center

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    COPYRIGHT LARRY NEFF/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS

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    COPYRIGHT LARRY NEFF/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS

Published May 15. 2019 09:07PM

BY TERRY AHNER

tahner@tnonline.com

A male hiker was injured after falling about 80 feet off a cliff on the Blue Mountain at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center in Washington Township Wednesday evening.

State police at Bethlehem said troopers were dispatched around 6:40 p.m. to the area of Mountain Road/Route 873 for a report of an individual who fell into a heavily wooded area.

Upon arrival, it was determined that an 18-year-old male was hiking and climbing with two friends, a 17-year-old from Allentown, and a 17-year-old from Schnecksville, in the area known as “Devin’s Point.”

While searching the area, troopers located the injured hiker and provided first aid to the him while directing Search and Rescue personnel to their location.

The Search and Rescue operation took about three hours to extricate the injured hiker, who was Medevaced to Lehigh Valley Hospital — Cedar Crest, for his injuries.

Also assisting at the scene were Northern Valley EMS, Slatington Fire Department, Emerald Fire Department, Lehigh County Technical Rescue, East Allen Fire Department and EMS, NOVA EMS, Lehigh Valley EMS, Walnutport EMS, and Slatedale Fire Department.

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Man Anthony you beat me to it! Hey PA Game commission IDIOTS following your quote "logic" we should just close this trail as it is to dangerous …. takes to long to rescue.....
You people are idiots and probably liberals. Right away you want to close the Appalachian Trail. This trail runs from Maine to Georgia and has been around well over 100 years and all of a sudden you want to close it what a bunch of morons
In the show you how stupid you are Jessie the PA game commission does not control the Appalachian Trail. They have absolutely nothing to do with it
Model 88 rules.... you IDIOT that was sarcasm you couldn't tell by the quote? I guess I will be dumbing down my comments for some people out there and say it is sarcasm so they get it. Also I know they do not control that moron! This was off handed jab at the IDIOTS that run the state government and a reference to the Glenn Onoko closing. OUR GOVERMENT SHOULD NEVER CLOSE PUBLIC LANDS!!!! And by the way from that picture it looks like the D & L but the article does not say.
I would imagine that a rescue of this nature would start at the bottom of the hill not the top. I think the D&L would be the bottom.

Anyway, the actual rescue is of no cost to the patient. But from there the meter starts running at a furious pace. Paramedics, Air lift to the trauma center, ED docs, PT and so on. Dude is prolly gonna miss a day or two of work.
I have hiked that area literally hundreds of times in the past 50 years. The only place he could have fallen 80 feet was from “Devil’s Pulpit”. That is a separate trail that has nothing to do with the Appalachian Trail. From what I’ve read in this article, this young man and his friends were climbing and not necessarily hiking. An inherent risk in climbing is the distinct possibility of falling. 43 years and 43 pounds ago, I would free climb in the Lehigh Gap and at Ralph Stover Park. It was definitely a challenge and very dangerous. This might not have been a case of blatant stupidity like most of the accidents at Glen Onoko. But without knowing the facts, I’m not going to bash this young man, just pray for his recovery
They didn't close Glenn onoko. I was just there. All they did was rename the trail. Its now called trail closed, same trail different name.
Either way based upon "government logic" they are gonna try some bullshit in the name of public safety...all horseshit...the entire world is dangerous and you have a better chance of getting hit by a car or falling down the steps than getting hurt hiking (unless you're being unnecessarily wreckless) and yeah the trail at the glen was just renamed like the previous guy said its called "trail closed" and ive hiked all over ,glen onoko, Flagstaff, bear rocks,bake oven, parts of the Appalachian trail, and many others and aside from scrapes and maybe sprained ankle i never get hurt...its bullshit rhat because of a few accidents and several morons in improper attire questionable fitness or wreckless and inebriated give these clowns a platform to screw others from
its seems to me that the problem is none of these people are from them area, they just come up here and think that they can hike or swim with out knowing what there doing which is not the case at all.
Not enough information given about the incident. Where is the follow up? More facts needed...

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