Forest rangers with the state Department of Environmental Conservation ticketed campers for leaving their campsite in unsanitary conditions and responded to multiple calls reporting lost and injured hikers over the past few weeks.

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Bear encounter

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A camper at the Fish Creek Campground in Saranac Lake reported that a bear had opened a cooler and was refusing to leave the area at 12:25 a.m. on July 21. Rangers responded to the scene at 3:20 a.m., but the bear was already gone. Forest ranger Matthew Adams issued tickets to campers for leaving the campsite in unsanitary conditions. The bear did not cause any damage.

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Unresponsive hiker

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Forest ranger Andrew Lewis responded to a reported unresponsive woman in a vehicle at Adirondack Mountain Reserve in Keene Valley at 5:20 p.m. on July 21. The woman had finished a hike with her brother and then passed out in her car. Lewis found the woman unconscious but breathing. He monitored her vitals and kept Keene Valley EMS updated via radio while they made their way to the scene. EMS transported the woman to the hospital for care at 6:16 p.m.

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Lost campers

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Franklin County 911 received a distress text about multiple lost people near the Second Pond boat launch at 12:13 a.m. on July 20. Forest ranger Hannah O’Connor contacted the two people from Canada via phone. They had wandered down the shoreline from their campsite and didn’t know how to get back. O’Connor and ranger Gregory Bowler located the two people approximately 1,500 feet from their campsite and escorted them back. Resources were clear at 2 a.m.

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Cascade injury

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Ray Brook dispatch received a call about a hiker, 31, from Baldwinsville, with an unstable ankle injury on Cascade Mountain at 1:43 p.m. on July 20. Four forest rangers and an assistant forest ranger responded and helped carry the hiker back to the trailhead, where she decided to seek further medical attention on her own. Resources were clear at 4:49 p.m.

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Ampersand injury

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Ray Brook dispatch received a call from a hiker, 29, from Syracuse, with

an ankle injury near the summit of Ampersand Mountain at 3:22 p.m. on July 19. Rangers splinted the hiker’s ankle and helped her back to the trailhead, where she declined further medical attention. Resources were clear at 8:24 p.m.

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St. Regis injury

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Forest rangers Adam Baldwin and Corenne Black responded to a call from a hiker, 50, from New Jersey, with an ankle injury on

St. Regis Mountain at 4 p.m. on July 19. The rangers wrapped the hiker’s injury and helped her down the mountain. Resources were clear at 9:50 p.m.

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Wolfjaw air rescue

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Forest rangers responded to a call from a dehydrated hiker between Upper and Lower Wolfjaw Mountains at 5:30 p.m. on July 15. State Police Aviation was called in to assist. Forest ranger Hannah O’Connor lowered ranger Robert Praczkajlo down from the helicopter. Praczkajlo outfitted the hiker with a harness, and they were hosted back into the helicopter at 6:37 p.m. State Police Pilot Beck flew the hiker to the hospital.

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Marcy Dam injury

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Forest rangers responded to a call regarding a hiker, 62, from California, with a knee injury about one and a half miles from Marcy Dam on the Mount Van Hoevenberg trail at 5:40 p.m. on July 15. The Marcy Dam caretaker helped the hiker to the outpost, and then forest ranger David Corey helped the hiker to her vehicle.

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Marcy air rescue

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The Mount Marcy summit steward called rangers for help with a hiker from Rochester with an unstable leg injury at 1:55 p.m. on July 12. State Police Aviation pilot Engel was called in to assist. Forest ranger Robert Praczkajlo was lowered to the hiker and harnessed him for a hoist. Ranger Andrew Lewis hoisted the hiker into the helicopter, which flew him to the hospital. Resources were clear at 3:22 p.m.

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Overturned kayaks

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Ray Brook dispatch received a 911 text message from Franklin County dispatch about multiple overturned boats and six injured people on the St. Regis River about two miles south of the Santa Clara boat launch at 2:45 p.m. on July 12. Forest rangers Adam Baldwin, Gregory Bowler, David Corey and Jenna Curcio responded. At 4:30 p.m., they located the people and pulled them out of the water. They had four of their kayaks and two paddles left. Rangers drove them back to the boat launch. They did not require further medical attention.

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Brasher search

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The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department requested forest ranger assistance at 7:30 p.m. on July 10 in the search for a 24-year-old man with reported mental health issues who ran out of his residence into the Brasher State Forest at 12 p.m. Ranger Peter Dempf located the man on Bush Road at 9 p.m., warmed him, provided food and water and then turned him over to Sheriff’s deputies for further evaluation.

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Giant Mountain search

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Ray Brook dispatch received a call about a group of hikers who lost the trail on Giant Mountain at 9:45 p.m. on July 10. Two hikers, ages 21 and 16, were separated from the other five hikers. Forest rangers Robert Praczkajlo and Allison Rooney reached the hikers’ original coordinates at 1:08 a.m. on July 11 but only found abandoned gear. Ranger Jamison Martin found the group of five hikers at 2:53 a.m., and other rangers found the final two missing hikers at 8:45 a.m. after following their tracks. The entire hiking party was reunited at the trailhead at 9:20 a.m.

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Heat exhaustion

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Forest Ranger Melissa Milano responded to a call about a hiker, 14, from Massachusetts, suffering from heat exhaustion at OK Slip Falls at 6 p.m. on July 9. The hiker’s group leader attempted to cool him down, but the hiker was still hot and having an anxiety attack. Milano worked with the Indian Lake Fire Department to treat the hiker, calmed and cooled him down and then walked him out to an awaiting ambulance. Resources were clear at 9 p.m.

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Lost hikers on Marcy

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Ray Brook dispatch received a call from Essex County 911 about a pair of hikers lost on the Mount Marcy trail at 10:10 p.m. on July 9. The Marcy Dam caretaker reached the hikers, ages 18 and 19, from Canada, and found that they did not have headlamps, food or water. Additionally, one of their cellphones was dead and the other was at 5% battery. The caretaker hiked them back to the trailhead and then forest ranger Peter Evans helped them back to their vehicle. Resources were clear at 1:15 a.m. on July 10.