Rescuers in New Hampshire carried an injured hiker for several hours over nearly five miles of trails to safety last night.
At roughly 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, New Hampshire Fish and Game officials received a report of an injured hiker on the Appalachian Trail (AT), between North Carter Mountain and Imp Mountain. The initial call came in as an adult male who had fallen and suffered a possible fractured leg. The location of the injured hiker was approximately five miles in off of the Stony Brook Trailhead in Gorham. A rescue response was initiated by Fish and Game with calls for volunteers to assist in a multi-hour grueling carry out.
The rescue crew comprised of several Fish and Game Conservation Officers, and multiple volunteers from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue, Appalachian Mountain Club, and Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities. In total, 36 volunteers answered the call.
The hiker, identified as Steven Brown, 63, of Burke, Virginia, was on a multi-day section hike of the AT with other hiking partners when the injury occurred. According to a witness on scene, Burke slipped and fell while negotiating an angled granite slab that was also wet. The impact left him unable to walk.
The first rescuer arrived at the hiker at 6:20 p.m. after a nearly two hour hike. More rescuers eventually arrived and by 7:45 p.m. there were enough on hand to begin the slow process of safely carrying Brown out.
The rescue crew carried Brown for the next several hours across nearly a mile of the AT and down almost three-and-a-half miles on the Stony Brook Trail, arriving at the bottom at 1:30 a.m., Thursday morning.
Brown was placed in the Gorham Ambulance and subsequently transported to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin, New Hampshire for treatment of his injury.