Mass. woman's car gets stuck in snow following GPS along unplowed NH road
Feb. 20—A Massachusetts woman needed to have her car towed to safety Saturday afternoon after she and two friends became stranded in snow while following her GPS along an unplowed road in Eaton, conservation officers said.
Around 3 p.m. Saturday, New Hampshire Fish and Game was notified a vehicle was stranded in the area of Willis Bean and Foss Mountain Road in Eaton. The roads and "many others that lead to them in the area" are not maintained during the winter months, conservation officers said in a news release.
Poor cell service in the area contributed to an inability of crews to pinpoint an exact location for the group, and multiple attempts to establish contact with the group failed, officials said.
Conservation officers arrived just before 5 p.m. and located the group at their vehicle on Willis Bean Road, just under 2.5 miles from the point where plows stop working on Foss Mountain Road in Eaton.
The driver, identified by officials as Hannalore Tice, 38 of Westwood, Mass., told officials she was following her GPS to the Foss Mountain Hiking Trail in a Toyota 4 Runner when she got onto Willis Bean Road off of Kennard Hill Road in Porter, Maine. She drove just over 2.5 miles before the vehicle got stuck in the snow.
Accompanying Hannalore in her vehicle were Stephanie Henriques, 32 of Attleboro, Mass., and Rachel Felson, 32 of Boston, Mass.
Conservation officers said when they located the group, a local couple who "live off the grid in the area" were also on scene and had been attempting to dig them out.
Once the group was located, Christopher Elliot of Critters Towing and Off Road Recovery was able to pull the vehicle out of the snow and onto Kennard Road just after 8:30 p.m., conservation officers said.
New Hampshire Fish and Game issued a statement reminding motorists that "while GPS navigational systems can be accurate, they can steer you wrong" especially in winter and rural areas where "road closures and seasonal maintenance are rarely updated in navigational devices."
Operating a wheeled vehicle on a snow machine trail can be punishable up to a $1,000 fine, officials said.
