A hiker who reportedly became exhausted and dehydrated while hiking in the White Mountains had to be rescued Friday evening.
New Hampshire Fish and Game officials received a 911 call about a hiker in distress on the Valley Way Trail in Randolph, New Hampshire at 10:50 p.m. on Friday, June 12.
The call reportedly came from the hiker’s companion reporting that the 72-year-old man from Virginia was unable to continue hiking down the trail. GPS coordinates placed the hiker at 0.7 miles from the Appalachia Trailhead parking lot in Randolph.
A conservation officer and a volunteer from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue responded to the call and hiked up to the trail to the hiker. The hiker had left the Madison Spring Hut around noon that day and it had reportedly taken him nearly 12 hours to go 2.75 miles.
Officials said the hiker was likely suffering from heat exhaustion, dehydration, muscle cramping, and other symptoms. He and other hiking companions had departed the previous day from Pinkham Notch with the intention of section hiking the Appalachian Trail from Pinkham to Crawford Notch.
The hiker made it to the Madison Spring Hut the previous night and decided to not attempt the full hike and instead to come down Valley Way as the hike up to Madison Hut had been much more strenous than he had anticipated.
Rescuers arrived at the hiker at roughly 12:30 a.m. and provided him with fluids, electrolytes, and food.
After rehydrating, the hiker was able to get to his feet and—with the help of rescuers and trekking poles—slowly made his way down the trail, arriving at the parking lot at 2:30 a.m.
Due to a potential for underlying medical conditions, the hiker was taken to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin for treatment and evaluation.
