Crews rescued an injured hiker near the summit of New Hampshire’s Mount Lafayette on Saturday, August 22, carrying the hiker down while navigating dangerously steep, rocky terrain in the dark of night.
A 55-year-old woman from Ottawa was reportedly hiking with her husband and two children when she suffered an ankle injury on the Greenleaf Trail less than a half-mile from the summit of Lafayette at roughly 4 p.m.
Crews from the Appalachian Mountain Club, New Hampshire Fish and Game, Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team and Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue responded to the incident.
The hiker was splinted, placed on a litter, and crews began carrying her down at 7:20 p.m. Officials with the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team reported it was a 3.6-mile trek from above treeline down to the parking lot, their longest carryout of the year so far. They reached the trailhead at 11:30 p.m.
