Crews used a rescue sled to transport an injured hiker over more than a mile of snowy terrain from Lonesome Lake Hut in New Hampshire Sunday.
According to New Hampshire Fish & Game officials, staff with the Appalachian Mountain Club reported that a guest was injured at Lonesome Lake Hut on Sunday, February 22.
Officials said the 72-year-old man had hiked to the Lonesome Lake Hut with a group the previous day. They said the group was well-prepared and spent the night at the hut.
While the man was walking around the perimeter of the hut at 8 a.m., he slipped on ice, which caused a leg injury that prevented him from hiking out to the trailhead.
Staff at the hut were able to stabilize the man while waiting for rescuers.
A conservation officer and a group of eight volunteers from the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team responded to the trailhead at Lafayette Campground. The first rescuers started up the trail at 10 a.m. and reached the hut by 11 a.m. The trail from the campground to the hut is roughly a mile-and-a-half long with 1,000 feet of elevation gain.
The injured man was packaged into a rescue sled and the rescue party pulled him to the trailhead, where they arrived at 12:20 p.m.
