Hikers Blake Alois and Madison Popolizio were rescued by forest rangers after being lost for two nights near the summit of New York’s Algonquin Mountain.
Two hikers rescued by forest rangers on Tuesday after spending two nights in the Adirondack High Peaks were suffering from severe, “life-threatening” hypothermia when they were discovered, but are now in good condition and recovering at a local hospital.
Rangers found the hikers after hearing them yelling around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday near the summit of 5,114-foot Algonquin Mountain, the second-highest peak in the Adirondacks. They were evacuated by helicopter and taken to a nearby hospital.
The two hikers, Blake Alois, 20, and Madison Popolizio, 19, both of Niskayuna, New York, left the Adirondak Loj Trailhead on Sunday morning, December 12, to hike to the summit of Algonquin Mountain in the High Peaks Wilderness, in Keene, New York. At 5:42 pm on Sunday, rangers received a phone call from concerned family members reporting that they had not received any communication from the hikers since noon.
When rangers discovered the hikers on Tuesday, the two were severely hypothermic. According to an article on LakePlacidNews.com, Blake Alois’ mother, Doris, said that immediately after rangers discovered them, they told her it was a life-threatening situation.
“The rangers kept on telling me, ‘It’s life-threatening. You need to know that,'” she said.
But other than suffering hypothermia, forest rangers said the two hikers emerged relatively unscathed.
According to an article on AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com, rangers warmed the hikers and then hoisted them from the mountainside by helicopter. The two are listed in good condition at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.
Conditions in the region featured deep snow and frigid temperatures. Rangers said the two lost the trail they were on. But they were experienced hikers and had good equipment.
Read about two hikers surviving two frigid nights in the Adirondack High Peaks.