BARNSTEAD — A local woman died after falling 70 feet Saturday morning while hiking a difficult trail in Acadia National Park in Maine.

Shirley Lee Ladd, 22, of Barnstead, a graduate of Prospect Mountain High School and a senior at the University of Maine at Orono, was hiking with a friend on Champlain Mountain when she fell, said Acadia park ranger Richard Rechholtz.

Ladd and her friend were hiking along the Precipice, the park's most difficult trail, leading to the top of Champlain Mountain, a 1.6-mile round-trip.

“That trail has been closed a lot recently because of the peregrine falcons that have been nesting there, but it opened early this year,” said Rechholtz.

The Precipice involves narrow pathways and climbing rungs and ladders built into the rocks. Ladd and her friend were about three-quarters of the way to the top when the accident happened, Rechholtz said.

Ladd fell to a switchback trail below, and as emergency responders from across the park in response to a 911 call, a nurse and an emergency medical technician who had been hiking nearby reached first Ladd and began administering CPR and first aid.

The rescue operation was incredibly difficult due to the terrain, Rechholtz said, and despite nearly 35 well-trained rescuers from various organizations in and around the park, it took more than five hours to get Ladd to the top of the mountain, about a mile away, where a helicopter was waiting.

“We had to raise the litter to the top using ropes,” said Rechholtz. “Everyone did everything possible during the rescue.”

But Ladd was pronounced dead when she reached the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

According to a press statement from the University of Maine, Ladd was a psychology major with a minor in business administration. She worked on campus at the New Balance Student Recreation Center and also worked as a student building manager.

“Our thoughts are with her family, friends and the many people on campus who knew and loved her, and whose lives she touched,” said Robert Dana, UMaine vice president for student affairs and dean of students. “As one of our student managers at the fitness center, she was well known for her outgoing personality and customer service. She was always ready with a smile. Shirley was a strong leader among her peers. She will be missed by so many in our community.”

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