Adirondack forest rangers rescued eight groups in the backcountry and assisted numerous other hikers during Columbus Day weekend.
It was the busiest weekend of the year so far for backcountry rescues, according to Dave Winchell, spokesman for Region 5 of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
"We saw a huge number of people out there," Winchell said. "We had such fantastic weather. We've seen this since we've reopened the Eastern High Peaks, and Dix and Giant Wilderness, that there's people that are curious that just want to go into the woods and see just what happened with Hurricane Irene, so we had a lot going on."
Winchell also pointed out that it was a holiday weekend in both the United States and in Canada, so there were a lot of tourists visiting the area.
In two of the incidents, forest rangers were required to carry injured hikers out of the woods. One rescue took place on Dix Mountain, and the other took place on the Round Mountain trail, which is also in the Dix Mountain Wilderness. In both cases, forest rangers had to work through the night as they carried the injured individuals to safety.
"It was morning before we got people out of the woods, so a lot of hard work went into that," Wincher said.
Winchell credited strong responses from volunteers in local fire departments and rescue groups for providing assistance during the operations.
One of the biggest problems for hikers is that they were caught out after dark without any source of light to get back to their trailheads.
"The number of people who still don't bring flashlights when they go on hikes, just don't realize, with fall, it gets dark a lot quicker and don't plan ahead that well," Winchell said. "We had three different searches, that it was late in the day, and people did not have flashlights with them."
The following summaries of the rescues were provided by the DEC:
On Friday at 6:45 p.m., DEC Dispatch in Ray Brook received a call from one of two hikers lost on Buck Mountain in the Lake George Wild Forest in Fort Ann, Washington County. Susan Smith, 25, of Cohoes, and John Kapczynski, 23, of Delmar, had lost the trail while descending from the summit. It was growing dark, and they were not carrying a flashlight or headlamp. A forest ranger contacted the hikers on Smith's cell phone and instructed them to start a fire and stay there. The forest ranger and a second ranger ascended the trail, found the two hikers at 9:40 p.m. and escorted them back to their vehicles by 11:15 p.m.
On Saturday at 6:55 p.m., DEC Dispatch in Ray Brook received a call from Franklin County 911 reporting a lost 11-year-old boy on Baker Mountain in Saranac Lake. Harris Thor, 56, and Debra Ann Thor, 52, of Vestal were hiking Baker Mountain and were separated from their son. A forest ranger responded and located the boy a short distance from the trailhead. After securing the boy in her vehicle, the forest ranger ascended the trail to locate the parents, who were without a flashlight or headlamp. The family was reunited at their vehicle at 8 p.m.
On Saturday at 7:21 p.m., DEC Dispatch in Ray Brook received a call from Warren County 911 reporting three men lost in the Tongue Mountain Range near Lake George in the town of Bolton, Warren County. Pawan Singh, 27, and Neeraz Kumar, 30, both of Jersey City, N.J., and Rohit Kulkarni, 26, of Matuchen, N.J., had lost the trail and were not carrying a flashlight or headlamp. Warren County sheriff's deputies located Kulkarni's car at the Clay Meadow trailhead along state Route 9N. A forest ranger spoke to Kulkarni on his cell phone and was provided the coordinates of the three men. The forest ranger headed toward their location from the trailhead and met up with them. Meanwhile two other forest rangers headed toward the men's location from a different route. They were out of the woods by 11:40 p.m.
On Sunday at 8:04 p.m., DEC Dispatch in Ray Brook received a report of two women injured on Dix Mountain in the town of North Hudson. Sarah Meixell, 56 of Moravia was hiking with family members about a mile below the summit of Dix Mountain when she was impaled by a stick in her leg. Meixell and her husband began moving down the mountain on the Beckhorn trail while the two daughters went on ahead to seek help. One of the daughters fell, injuring her leg, but was able to continue on to the trailhead. The daughters called for assistance from the trailhead. Eight forest rangers and personnel from Glens Falls Hospital Back Country Rescue responded. First-aid was administered; then Meixell was carried 3.5 miles down the trail. A forest ranger on an ATV was able to meet them 1.5 miles from the trailhead. Meixell was taken to the Elk Lake trailhead at 7:40 a.m., transferred to a Schroon Lake Rescue ambulance and transported to the Glens Falls Hospital for further medical evaluation and treatment.
On Monday at 11 a.m., a forest ranger on routine patrol encountered an injured man on a trail near Marcy Dam in the eastern High Peaks. Paul Wiebe, 73, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada had been hiking to Marcy Dam with his wife when he tripped on a root, fell and cut his arm. The forest ranger applied direct pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding, then assisted Wiebe to his feet and walked him to the trailhead at noon. He was taken by his wife to Adirondack Medical Center in Lake Placid.
On Monday at 12:20 p.m., DEC Dispatch in Ray Brook received a call from DEC's central dispatch office reporting two men lost on Prospect Mountain in the town of Lake George, Warren County. Kevin Griffith, 63, and his son Roman Griffith, 25, both of Poestenkill, had been hiking the trail up Prospect Mountain when they had lost the trail and became separated. A forest ranger was dispatched, but an environmental conservation officer was on patrol on the Prospect Mountain Highway. He and DEC operations staff on the mountain were able to contact the men and direct them out of the woods. Both men were out of the woods by 2:18 p.m.
On Monday at 6:47 p.m., DEC Dispatch in Ray Brook received a call from Herkimer County 911 reporting two men lost in the Moose River Plains in the town of Inlet, Hamilton County. Charles Kahan, 23, of Binghamton, and Clayton Adour, 23, of Vestal, were descending from the summit of Black Bear Mountain when they lost the trail and ended up at a rock outcropping on the east side of the mountain. Unable to proceed farther, they used a cell phone to call 911. They had no food, water, flashlight, map or compass and were only wearing jeans and T-shirts. Herkimer County 911 was able to provide the coordinates of the cell phone. A forest ranger responded and was able to locate the two men at 8:48 p.m. They were escorted back to their vehicle at 9:31 p.m.
On Monday at 11:11 p.m., Dispatch in Ray Brook received a phone call from a man seeking assistance on the Round Mountain trail in the Dix Mountain Wilderness in the town of Keene. Roger Pershing, 38, of Kunkletown, Pa., had fallen about a half-mile from the trailhead and was unable to get up. Three forest rangers responded to the location and found Pershing in physical distress. Fluids were administered, but Pershing remained unable to stand. Additional personnel were requested from the Keene Valley Volunteer Fire Department, the Keene Volunteer Fire Department and Search and Rescue of the Northern Adirondacks. Pershing was packaged in a litter and carried out to the trailhead. At 6:13 a.m. he was placed in a Keene Volunteer Fire Department ambulance and transported to the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake for further medical evaluation and treatment.