Mt. Katahdin snowmobiler mystery is solved

By Bill Green

My story about the snowmobiler on top of Mt. Katahdin got a lot of response. With Maine being “a big-small town,” several people called or wrote with information about the moment.

So, who is that man?

“That man is my father,” said Doug Knowlton. His father was Elmer Knowlton, a warden with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Doug added some perspective on why Park Supervisor Helon Taylor authorized the mission for his father and Park Ranger Rodney Sargeant.

“From what I remember him saying — now remember I was 10 or 11 years old — there was discussion between Rodney and Helon Taylor about seeing how far they could go by snowmobile up the mountain for future rescue missions,” he said.

The event happened because Ralph Heath, the park ranger at Chimney Pond, had died attempting to rescue Margaret Ivusic off the Knife Edge on Oct. 28, 1963. In fact, his body was not recovered until May 17, meaning Ranger Heath was still missing when Knowlton and Sargeant made their ascent.

This is verified by Bill Vail, a legendary Maine warden and former commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Bill was transferred from Daaquam to Millinocket and worked with Knowlton for a year.  Elmer told Bill about the trip many times.

“It still amazes me,” Vail said from his home in Belfast. He remembered Knowlton as a very capable outdoorsman who was a great storyteller. 

“He always said he wished he had taken a Ski-Doo. He figured he would have made $1 million in endorsements!” Vail said.

Pictures can tell only part of a story. 

“When asked what they did for a living, my photographers would point at me and say, ‘I do everything he does — backwards!’ This was true, but I got most of the credit because they were taking MY picture,” Vail said.

So here’s a tip of the cap to Rodney Sargeant. He made the same trip, had the presence of mind to bring a Brownie box camera and took Elmer’s picture. It was so cold on the mountain, Rodney couldn’t advance the camera.

For those not familiar with those cameras, there was a little wheel that you would roll to advance the film so another picture could be taken. That wheel was frozen. The aperture was not.  Obviously, the picture was snapped, but Rodney only gets a photo credit and the satisfaction of knowing that the world could see that Elmer Knowlton took a snowmobile to Baxter Peak. It’s kind of a Buzz Aldrin Award.

The rangers and wardens spent some time experimenting with snow sleds that winter.

 Legendary outdoorsman Wiggie Robinson went up with Warden Eric Wight, Elmer and Rodney one day. They took sleds up the Saddle. The going got so tough by snowmobile, they got off and hiked to the top.

Wiggie did a better job of documenting that expedition. The snowmobiles made the climb easier, but hiking became faster.

So Buzz Caverly is off the hook. The former park director didn’t take a snowmobile to Baxter Peak. The expedition was authorized by Supervisor Helon Taylor and Rodney Sargeant took the picture.

The man on the mountain is Game Warden Elmer Knowlton and there is indeed a wonderful story behind the picture.