LAKE PLACID – A 43-year-old man from western New York died while hiking on Cascade Mountain Thursday morning.

Essex County Cornoner Frank Whitelaw identified the man this morning as Michael Sawyer of Geneseo.

Whitelaw said Sawyer climbed to the mountain’s summit with his wife and was descending the trail when he stopped to sit on a rock for a water break. Soon after, he collapsed.

Essex County 911 received a phone call about the situation, and state police, equipped with an automated external defibrillator, responded along with fire and rescue personnel, Essex County sheriff’s deputies and state forest rangers. Passersby reported seeing a large number of emergency vehicles at the trailhead.

The defibrillator and CPR were unsuccessful, however, and Sawyer was pronounced dead on the trail.

The state police Special Operations Response Team helped remove his body to the Cascade Mountain trailhead. Whitelaw responded to assist with the removal of the body at the trailhead and transportation to the hospital.

An autopsy to determine the cause of death is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake. Whitelaw said circumstances point to a medical situation being the cause.