Staff reports 8 a.m.
Wednesday, April 22, 2026 8:03 am
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DEAD RIVER TOWNSHIP, Maine - The Maine Warden Service and the Maine Air National Guard rescued a severely hypothermic hiker who got caught in the April snow atop Bigelow Mountain.
On Monday night the Maine Warden Service was notified that there was a 24-year-old female hiker on the Appalachian Trail on Bigelow Mountain who was severely hypothermic.
The Warden Service got involved around 9:30 p.m. when David Piccioni, 35 of Cumbola, Pa., contacted emergency services and notified them that his hiking partner, Anna Troxell, 24 of Drums, Pa., was severely hypothermic and needed help. She had slurred speech, her lips were blue and she was losing muscle coordination and was unstable walking.
Troxell and Piccioni were located on the Appalachian Trail between the West Peak and Avery Peak on Bigelow Mountain. There was approximately 3-5 inches of fresh snow on the mountain from a recent storm and temperatures were in the mid-teens.
Game Wardens, alongside members of the Eustis Fire Department, local EMS, and search and rescue volunteers, coordinated a multi-agency response. The initial rescue team began ascending the Fire Warden Trail, a 4.5 mile trail over steep terrain, at the Stratton Brook Pond Road at approximately 10:45 p.m. on Monday while additional teams mobilized to assist, according to a Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife release sent on Tuesday.
Rescuers reached the patient around 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday and immediately initiated warming efforts under extreme cold and wet summit conditions, wrapping the two hikers in heavy sleeping bags, providing warm drinks and starting a fire. As the patient's condition continued to deteriorate, the lead rescue team determined that a ground evacuation over the snow-covered trail posed significant risk due to treacherous terrain and conditions which ultimately led to them calling off the two additional teams who were en route, and contacting the Maine Air National Guard.
An aerial rescue was coordinated with the Maine Air National Guard. At approximately 06:45 a.m., an Air National Guard Black Hawk helicopter successfully hoisted both the patient and her hiking partner from the mountain. They were transported to Carrabassett Valley Regional Airport, where Maine Health Ambulance Services personnel provided treatment for severe hypothermia. The pair were treated, refused transport, and were released.