https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Forest-rangers-rescue-lost-injured-hikers-12985503.php
Forest rangers rescue 13 lost, injured hikers in 5 days
Updated 9:05 pm, Monday, June 11, 2018
Forest rangers carry an injured 61-year-old woman from New Jersey off Algonquin in Essex County, N.Y. on Friday, June 8, 2018.
Forest rangers carry an injured 61-year-old woman from New Jersey off Algonquin in Essex County, N.Y. on Friday, June 8, 2018.
With warm weather beckoning more people to explore the Adirondacks and Catskills, forest rangers have been busy rescuing lost and injured hikers.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation reported nine rescues in and around the Capital Region this past week.
At about 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 6, two Canadian hikers left the North-South Lake Campground in Hunter, Greene County, and headed toward Sunset Rock. When the pair did not return to their camp site by 1:30 a.m., a friend hiked to Sunset Rock, called out for them and got no response.
The friend called the DEC and two rangers were sent to sweep the area. One ranger established voice contact with the lost hikers near Ashley Falls. The sun had set shortly after the pair started hiking and they quickly lost the trail, eventually ending up in the woods between trails without lights. They decided to stay the night and were hunkered down when the rangers found them. The rangers escorted the pair safely back to their campsite.
The same day, another Canadian hiking group called DEC dispatchers at 9:22 p.m. to report they were descending Giant Mountain in Keene, Essex County, and had been separated from two friends.
The group asked for help finding the missing men, both 21. A forest ranger hiked from the Chapel Pond entrance of Giant Mountain Trail to Roaring Brook Trail but found no trace of the missing hikers.
Another ranger hiked the Roaring Brook Trail to the Washbowl and established voice contact with the men near the waterfall at 1:39 a.m. The two men were found in good condition 50 yards off the trail and were led back to their hiking party. The group reunited at 2:12 a.m.
At 8:40 a.m. the next morning — Thursday, June 7 — a SUNY Cortland hike leader called DEC dispatchers to report the college group had run into a disoriented and distressed hiker at Cold River lean-to No. 4 on the Northville-Placid Trail in Long Lake, Hamilton County.
The 63-year-old man from Massachusetts told the group he was hiking to Plumley Point. Rangers set out and found him at Shattuck Clearing, where they shared some food and water.
The rangers then escorted the man two and a half miles to the northern boundary of Huntington Forest, where a third ranger was waiting to drive the hiker to his Ticonderoga hotel. The hiker requested no further medical care.
Later Thursday, at 1:39 p.m, Washington County 911 dispatchers called the DEC to report a 69-year-old woman from Queensbury was injured while descending Sleeping Beauty Mountain in Fort Ann.
Rangers found the hiker about a mile and a half from Dacy Clearing with an unstable leg injury and carried her in a litter to the trailhead with the help of local fire and medical crews. She was taken by ambulance to Glens Falls Hospital for further treatment.
Just before 7 p.m. Friday, June 8, a 61-year-old woman from New Jersey called DEC dispatchers to report she had fallen while hiking Algonquin in North Elba, Essex County, and injured two extremities.
Cell phone coordinates placed her near McIntyre Falls and the ranger who hiked out to assess her condition asked others for help at 9 p.m. After stabilizing the woman's injuries, the rangers carried her in a litter to a waiting off-road utility vehicle.
She was driven slowly down the mountain, placed in an ambulance at 12:50 a.m. and taken to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake for treatment.
At 1 p.m. Saturday, June 9, Greene County 911 dispatchers received a call from an injured 39-year-old woman from Connecticut on the blue trail near Kaaterskill Falls in Hunter. The hiker had taken a misplaced step on a rock near Layman's Monument and injured her ankle.
Five forest rangers and a local rescue squad arrived and splinted the hiker's ankle before packaging her onto a litter and carrying her to a waiting off-road utility vehicle. She was driven to South Lake, evaluated by a local emergency medical squad. The woman decided to seek further treatment on her own.
At 2:41 p.m. Saturday, Essex County 911 dispatchers called the DEC to report a 50-year-old woman from Broome County had fallen while hiking with her dogs on the Whiteface trail. The hiker had hit the back of her head and briefly lost consciousness.
Two rangers found the woman about 200 yards from the trailhead, evaluated her and helped her to a waiting local emergency medical squad. After being assessed, she declined further medical treatment. The scene was cleared at 4:11 p.m.
The next day, at 10:50 a.m. a 50-year-old man from Catskill called the DEC to report he was at the Biscuit Brook lean-to in Denning, Ulster County, with an ankle injury. Two forest rangers reached the hiker at 1:30 p.m., assessed his injury and determined the man could begin walking out with them. They were met by a local fire crew's off-road utility vehicle, which drive the man the remaining distance to the trailhead. He then sought follow-up care on his own.
Also Sunday, at about 12:30 p.m., a forest ranger was patrolling Kaaterskill Falls near Hunter, Greene County, when he came across an injured 15-year-old girl from Kingston at the base of the stone stairs.
The girl was hiking with her family when she stepped off the trail toward the lower pool and rolled her ankle on a loose rock, feeling a popping sensation.
Three other rangers were sent to the scene, splinted the hiker's ankle and helped the girl out of the woods by 2:30 p.m. The girl's father elected to drive his daughter to a nearby medical facility for further treatment.
For hiking safety tips visit dec.ny.gov.
