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Smartphone compass fails High Peaks hiker

Two boaters found dead in St. Lawrence County

State Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers continued to help people in the backcountry last week, including a boating death and a woman who got lost when her smartphone proved to be insufficient for navigation.

Town of Harrietstown

A woman who was using Google Maps and an iPhone compass to navigate a bushwhack became lost while hiking Donaldson Mountain on Monday, Aug. 21.

The woman believed she had missed a rock cairn that would lead her to Caulkins Brook, and she called for help. She spoke with a ranger and then re-summited the mountain to find the correct path. The ranger began hiking in and located the woman along the trail. She was rehydrated and assisted back to the trailhead.

Town of Keene

Also on Aug. 21, a woman was hiking in the High Peaks when she heard a pop in her ankle near the intersection of the trails to Wright and Algonquin peaks.

Two rangers responded in a state police helicopter, and one was lowered to the 40-year-old woman’s location. After stabilizing the injury, the woman was hoisted to the helicopter and transported to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake for further treatment.

Town of Stony Creek

Two rangers responded to a call about a man who suffered a leg injury while hiking near a waterfall on Tuesday, Aug. 22. By the time rangers arrived, the man had been located by an individual with an all-terrain vehicle. The rangers splinted the injury and helped the man to the road, where he sought medical attention on his own.

Town of Morristown

Ranger and environmental conservation officer assistance was requested for an overturned boat on Black Lake in St. Lawrence County on Wednesday, Aug. 23.

One person was found dead, but due to darkness, the search was called off for the night. Rangers and ECOs assisted search efforts until the second person was found dead on Friday, Aug. 25.

Town of Harrietstown

A man called for help from the Ward Brook lean-to in the High Peaks Wilderness on Thursday, Aug. 24 after his hiking companion suffered a foot injury and was unable to walk out.

A ranger responded and used a UTV to drive in 6.5 miles to the man’s location and to provide necessary first aid before bringing the man to Coreys Road. The man was transported to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake for treatment.

Town of North Elba

A man who suffered a lower leg injury was pushing through the pain, but his injury was only getting worse when the DEC’s Marcy Dam caretaker requested assistance for the 33-year-old from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Aug. 25.

A ranger used a UTV to reach Marcy Dam and transport the man back to the Adirondak Loj trailhead, where the man said he would seek medical attention on his own.

Town of Bolton

Four people who were wholly unprepared had to call for help when the sun went down on Aug. 25. The group was out of water and had no flashlights at the top of Thomas Mountain after 8 p.m., so a ranger hiked in to collect them and guide them back to the trailhead.

Town of Harrietstown

On Saturday, Aug. 26, a 70-year-old man could not continue hiking down Ampersand Mountain due to exhaustion and a lack of food and water.

The man was being helped down the trail by other hikers when four rangers responded and assisted. The rangers used a backpack litter to carry the man the last mile of the trail. The man was picked up by a waiting Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad ambulance, which transported him to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake for further treatment.

Town of Keene

A 50-year-old woman suffered a non-weight-bearing leg injury near the summit of Cascade Mountain on Sunday, Aug. 27.

Due to her distance from the trailhead, a state police helicopter was used. A ranger was inserted at the woman’s location, and after the injury was splinted, the woman was hoisted into the helicopter for transport to Adirondack Medical Center.

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