July 2, 2007
Needless to say, I barely slept last night. Madison was gone, probably forever. I had one glimmer of hope. She was a mountain dog. If any dog could survive the harsh White Mountains, she could. Maybe she will stumble across a trail, and a hiker will find her. I figured it was pointless to go and look for her. She could be anywhere by now. That wasn't acceptable. I had to make some type of attempt, no matter how futile. So I put a search and rescue plan together the best I could. I woke Lynn up about 4:30 that morning.
"I'm taking the day off work. I'm going to look for Madison," I said
"I'm coming with you," she added.
The plan:
I would rehike the Osceolas, this time hiking through to Tripoli Road. I would meet Lynn drive up the road and then hike East Pond Trail back to the Kancamagus Highway. This would complete about a 15-20 mile loop around the area where I last saw Maddie. I posted an entry on Views From the Top. I made up small posters with information about Madison. Lynn would post them at all the trailheads and campsites in the area. She would also check the White Mountains Visitor Center, Lincoln Woods Visitor Center, the nearest humane society, and the police station in Lincoln, the nearest town.
Here's my track from yesterday, showing the spot where I lost Madison.
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Here's a picture of the Osceolas. I lost her at about 4,000 feet.
There was one car in the parking lot when we got there. I headed off. As I hiked, the vastness of the White Mountains reminded me of how thin a chance we had of finding her. It would take a miracle. I had the same brutal climb ahead of me as I did yesterday. It would be much worse today since I had only had 2-3 hours of sleep. Up I went stopping occasionally to yell her name as loud as I could. I made my way to the top of East Osceola. I thought of this picture I had taken of Madison just a few hours earlier. All I could think of was that this was the last picture I would have of her.
I choked back the tears and continued toward Mount Osceola. I stopped at the spot where I had lost her. I called and called. I tried to fight my way through the extremely dense woods. Maybe she was caught on something. It was no use, the woods was too thick to get through. I made my way up to the summit. There was a woman at the top.
"Did you lose your dog?" she asked.
"Yes, could you hear me calling? I asked
"The whole way up. If she is out there, then she would have heard you. What breed is she?"
"She's a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog."
"Sounds like she's a survivor type dog."
This gave me a glimmer of hope.
Unlike yesterday I didn't head back the same way. I continued down the other side of the mountain. I passed many hikers coming up. None of them had seen Madison. My hope was almost gone. I was trying to find some inner strength. Once I reached Tripoli Road, I would have another 5 mile hike along East Pond Trail. The lack of sleep was catching up to me. As I came to the trailhead there was a large group of teenage girls ready to start an overnight adventure. The leader of the group then spoke golden words.
"Are you the man looking for a dog?"
"Yes," I said with anticipation.
"Your wife is over there, and she has your dog."
What a miracle! Thank God!
Lynn had found Madison at the police station. I woman named Cherri Osgood was driving along Interstate-93 near exit 32 in Lincoln at about 8:30 am. She saw several vehicles ahead of her swerve. She then saw Madison dodging traffic. How Madison found her way all the way out of the mountains and onto the only interstate for miles around, we'll never know. She had to have run through the night to cover that much distance. Cherri took the time to call work, tell them she would be late, pick up Madison, and took her to the police station. We always here how 'bad' the world is becoming. It is so nice to see someone with so much compassion and care. Thank you Cherri, a thousand times over. You are Maddie's Angel.
To get an idea how far Madison travelled in about 14 hours, here's a map.
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Madison still argues that I'm the one who got lost.
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Now I can finally rest.
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