The hiker had lost the trail and become mired in deep snow while attempting a Presidential Traverse.
A hiker was rescued after getting off trail and losing a boot in New Hampshire on Thursday night.
Officials with New Hampshire Fish and Game said the hiker, Aiden Shaw, 17, of Stratham, New Hampshire, was descending Valley Way Trail when he lost the trail and became mired in deep snow.
After multiple attempts to guide Shaw back onto the trail over the phone failed, a rescue was initiated using conservation officers and volunteer rescue personnel from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue (AVSAR).
Shaw had been attempting a Presidential Traverse with two other companions when the trio decided to forgo the full traverse and return the way they had started. During this, Shaw suffered some sort of boot malfunction.
He made it to Madison Hut at approximately 4 p.m. when he decided to call 911 for help. At this point, he was certain rescuers were going to respond to replace his boot, and he convinced his companions to continue down Valley Way while he waited for a rescue. But rescuers advised Shaw that a boot malfunction did not constitute an emergency and he would have to rig up something up to secure his boot and continue down Valley Way Trail.
At approximately 5 p.m., he called 911 again and stated that he was now lost off trail near Snyder Brook and didn’t know which way to go. After attempting to talk Shaw back onto the trail, which was approximately 200 feet from his location, he stated that he was too wet, cold and exhausted to continue on and claimed he could not physically go on.
At this point, a rescue response was initiated. A message was relayed to Shaw’s hiking companions that he needed help and they agreed to turn around and hike back up over a half mile in an effort to locate and assist him.
After multiple calls and multiple attempts to get Shaw to reach the trail, he was able to finally reach Valley Way Trail. But in doing so he had abandoned his pack with all his gear including his external light source.
Fortunately as the first volunteer rescuers were heading up from the bottom, Shaw’s hiking companions located him and were able to get him warmed up enough to start slowly moving down the trail.
At 8:17 p.m. AVSAR volunteers arrived at Shaw’s position 2.4 miles up from the parking lot. They found that Shaw had lost one of his boots. They treated his foot for cold weather injuries and provided footwear so he could continue the hike down. They arrived down at the parking lot at 10:36 p.m.
Shaw and his hiking companions had good winter gear to include snowshoes and sleeping bags, but did not have a shelter. They had planned on hiking straight through without camping, but realized that plans change in the high peaks during the winter months and turned around near Thunderstorm junction. The hikers did possess Hike Safe cards.