The lost hiker was reportedly experienced but unprepared for snow conditions.
A hiker who officials say had no light or other essential gear was rescued in New Hampshire Saturday night.
According to New Hampshire Fish and Game officials, conservation officers received a report at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday of a hiker who had called 911 after becoming lost off the Kilkenny Ridge Trail between Mount Weeks and Middle Weeks mountains in the northern White Mountains.
The hiker also reported that he was wet and cold and did not a light or other gear.
After the initial call to 911, the conservation officer tried calling the hiker back several times to help him find the trail and self-rescue, but was unsuccessful.
Concerned about possible hypothermia with heavy rain in the forecast, the officer initiated a rescue response.
Along with conservation officers, volunteers from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue (AVSAR), and Berlin Fire Department (BFD) responded to the call.
The hiker, identified as Richard De Reyna, 57, of Westwood, Massachusetts, was 4.5 miles from the closest road. AVSAR and conservation officers came in via the old unmaintained York Pond Trail in East Lancaster, while the BFD members hiked in via the trailhead off York Pond Road in Berlin.
The team of AVSAR and conservation officers hiked off trail up a drainage as the closest point to reach De Reyna and successfully found him at 9:19 p.m. He was still at the exact coordinate where he made his 911 call.
De Reyna was wet, cold, and mildly hypothermic and was provided warm, dry clothes, warm liquids, and a light source from the rescue crew. They then hiked 2.4 miles down to an awaiting ATV where he was driven out the remaining two miles, arriving at the staged vehicles at 1:45 a.m.
Officials said De Reyna had started hiking at 8 a.m. from the York Pond Trailhead off York Pond Road in Berlin with the intention of summiting Mount Weeks, Middle Weeks, and Mount Weeks South Peak, and then return the same way.
Upon reaching the Kilkenny Ridge Trail, he found deep snow conditions and kept losing the trail.
He was able to keep re-locating the trail via a mapping program on his cell phone, but in doing so, drained the battery to the point that he was only able to make a 911 call and report his situation before the battery completely died.
Officials said De Reyna has over 25 years of hiking experience, but was unaware of the snow conditions still present in the upper levels of the White Mountains and was therefore not prepared for the conditions he faced.
To find out what hiking the scenic Kilkenny Ridge Trail is like in much better conditions, check out this video below.
