A hiker was found dead on a challenging peak in the Catskill Mountains last week.
According to New York Department of Environmental Conservation officials, forest rangers received a report of an unresponsive hiker roughly one mile up West Kill Mountain in Lexington, New York at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 24.
West Kill Mountain stands 3,880 feet high and is home to a section of the Devil’s Path, widely considered one of the most difficult hiking trails in the east.
The call came for a hiker who discovered the unresponsive subject.
Rangers located the hiker deceased at 8:30 p.m.
Rangers, a DEC Division of Law Enforcement Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigator, New York State Police, Ashland Fire and EMS, and the Lexington Fire Department recovered the subject and turned them over to the Greene County Coroner. Resources were clear at 12:15 a.m.
The hiker was identified as Linhu Jin, 54, of Palisades Park, New Jersey.
Officials said no foul play is suspected.
The following are reports of other recent incidents involving New York DEC forest rangers.
Town of Indian Lake
Hamilton County
Wilderness Search: On April 26 at 11 a.m., Ray Brook Dispatch alerted forest rangers to a lost hiker on Blue Mountain. The dispatcher determined the hiker was off trail, approximately one-half mile southeast of the summit. A forest ranger reached the subject by phone. The hiker advised they were able to get a map phone app to work and make it back to the trail. The ranger told the 41-year-old from Syracuse to begin making his way slowly to the summit. The ranger hiked up the snow-covered service road to the summit and met the hiker. Two other rangers arrived in UTVs and transported the first ranger and the hiker back to the original ranger’s truck. The ranger drove the hiker to his vehicle and resources were clear at 2 p.m.
Town of Lake George
Warren County
Wilderness Rescue: On April 26 at 1:45 p.m., the Warren County Sheriff’s Department requested forest ranger assistance with the carry out of a hiker who suffered a lower leg injury on Prospect Mountain. Four rangers reached the 37-year-old from Boston and transported him in a litter to an awaiting ambulance.
