The bodies of two missing hikers from New York have now been found near the summit of Katahdin.

Search teams found the body of Esther Keiderling, 28, of Ulster Park, New York, around 1 p.m. Wednesday in a boulder area between the Cathedral and Saddle trails off the Tablelands north of the summit, Baxter State Park officials said.

She was found approximately 1,000 feet from her father, Tim Keiderling, 58, who was found around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday on the Katahdin Tablelands by a Maine Warden Service K-9 search team.

The search for Esther resumed by both air and ground around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, officials said, concentrating on the east side of the mountain. The search team included 25 game wardens, four game warden K9 teams, 21 Baxter State Park rangers and more, including helicopter support from the Maine Army Guard and Maine Forest Service.

The pair had been missing since Sunday morning, when they were last seen headed toward the summit. An intense search for the pair began Monday and grew to include dozens of game wardens and park rangers.

Joe Keiderling, Tim’s brother, told the Press Herald in an interview Wednesday that the father-daughter duo were close and loved hiking and being outdoors. He said they were both serious about their Christian faith, which sustained them through “whatever life threw at them.”

He described his brother as a “remarkable,” lively man who had a knack for making friends in unlikely places. He could keep children and adults alike “spellbound” with his humor and storytelling.

“He was one of a kind,” Joe Keiderling said. “There was no one quite like him. He will be sorely missed, as will Esther.”

Joe Keiderling said his niece was a soft-spoken, sensitive woman who loved to read and write. The two of them compared reading notes, book recommendations and exchanged poems.

She shared her grandmother’s affinity for Russian literature, including works by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy, and one of her favorite poets was Gerard Manley Hopkins. She was a “wonderful conversationalist” and a deep thinker, Joe Keiderling said.

Tim Keiderling was married with four daughters, including Esther, and two sons. The family was close, and Joe Keiderling said his brother enjoyed spending time with his two grandchildren as well.

The father and daughter both worked at Rifton Equipment, a company that designs adaptive equipment for people with disabilities.

“Anyone who attended one of these sessions can’t help but remember Tim’s lively presence and the joy and fulfillment both he and Esther found in helping all of you serve the children and adults in your care,” reads a statement posted to Rifton’s social media accounts.

The Keiderlings had traveled to Maine for work and planned their hike on Katahdin at the end of the trip, Joe Keiderling said. He said they had collected equipment and researched the climb in preparation for the hike.

“I think it’s clear that they ran into unusually difficult weather,” Joe Keiderling said, adding that park officials indicated to him that the conditions were “terrible” during their hike.

Forecasts for Sunday by the National Weather Service office in Caribou called for scattered showers at Katahdin’s summit with winds peaking at 30-40 mph and low temperatures in the mid-30s.

THE SEARCH

After recovering Tim Keiderling’s body Tuesday, search crews repositioned their resources to the nearby area but initially found no clues about Esther Keiderling’s location, park officials said. A helicopter with a thermal imaging device searched the area Tuesday evening.

The search for Esther Keiderling resumed early Wednesday with helicopters. Ground searchers began their search around 8 a.m. and had concentrated their efforts on the Tablelands, a wide plateau west of the summit, as well as the trails and streams on the east side of the mountain.

The search included 25 game wardens, four game warden K-9 teams and 21 Baxter State Park rangers. Helicopters from the Maine Forest Service and Maine Army National Guard assisted with the search and transported crews to the summit.

Park officials closed the Hunt and Abol trails while the search was ongoing. It was not clear Wednesday when those trails would reopen.

On Saturday, Esther Keiderling posted a blog to Substack saying she and her father planned a sales trip to the area around a weekend so they could hike Katahdin. She said they planned to start hiking the Abol Trail by 7 a.m. Sunday if it wasn’t pouring rain.

“I’m a little nervous about everything I’ve seen about the Abol trail but I’m going to do it if weather permits!” she wrote. “If you don’t see me back on Substack notes again, that’s where I am.”

The Abol Trail is a popular but challenging hike that ascends the southwest side of the mountain, gaining 3,982 feet in about 4.5 miles. It is the shortest route to Baxter Peak from a roadside trailhead. The trail used to include the prominent Abol Slide but was relocated in 2015 after soil and rock movement increased hazards for hikers. The relocated trail uses the ridge west of the slide. The rocky terrain requires hikers to climb over large boulders.

Carey Kish, a hiker, writer and Registered Maine Guide who writes outdoors columns for the Press Herald, said Katahdin can never be underestimated, even if hikers are experienced and used to a challenge.

“There’s no easy way up Katahdin. Every route is very challenging and very steep, rocky and long,” he said Wednesday. “No matter when you go up Katahdin, you have to be prepared. Even then, the weather can close in and you can lose your way.”

Kish noted that the Abol Trail is particularly challenging, with a 600-foot “big boulder scramble” to reach the Tablelands.

On the Tablelands, hikers are exposed to the elements, which makes it beautiful on a nice day, Kish said. On the other hand, “if the weather closes in on you, it can be a scary place to be if you don’t keep your wits about you,” he said.

In October 2020, two hikers died on Katahdin within two days. At the time, park officials issued a reminder that the mountain can be “formidable,” especially in the months ahead of winter.

Several people have been rescued via helicopter from the mountain’s trails in recent years, including six hikers who spent the night atop the mountain after a woman in their group lost consciousness, as well as a woman who broke her ankle on the same trail one month later.