LAKE PLACID - A hiker had to be helicoptered out of the High Peaks Wilderness Monday afternoon after he got lost and became hypothermic.
Clifton Park resident Kevin Hagerty, 36, had been bushwhacking between Gray Peak and Mount Marcy when he got lost Monday morning. Realizing he was having problems, Hagerty used his cell phone to call 911, looking for help. The call was transferred tot he state Department of Environmental Conservation's dispatch center at about noon.
"During the phone conversation, the dispatcher determined that Hagerty was suffering from hypothermia based on the uncontrolled chattering of his teeth, the numerous times he dropped his cell phone and his inability to open his backpack," according to a statement from DEC spokesman Dave Winchell.
After the phone call, six forest rangers along with a state police helicopter were dispatched to locate and assist Hagerty.
The rescue crew soon found Hagerty, and a forest ranger was hoisted down to him.
Due to Hagerty's condition, forest rangers decided to evacuate him by helicopter rather than carry him out, Winchell said. So forest rangers hoisted him into the helicopter and transported him, wrapped in warm blankets, to Adirondack Medical Center in Lake Placid. He arrived at 2:15 p.m., and the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department secured the landing zone.
It was learned that he had gotten wet when temperatures had been in the single digits, according to Winchell.
AMC spokesman Joe Riccio said Hagerty was treated and released Monday.