Forest rangers in New York rescued multiple hikers who did not have lights or maps in separate incidents recently.
According to New York Department of Environmental Conservation officials, a forest ranger responded to the Peekamoose Trail in Denning, New York at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5 for nine hikers who were lost and reportedly didn’t have any lights or a map.
The nine hikers were part of a larger group who started at the Denning Trailhead and planned to summit Peekamoose Mountain.
When they reached the summit, they became confused and descended the trail that leads to the Peekamooose Road parking area instead of Denning.
The ranger reached the hikers via cell phone and told them to continue descending. The ranger then met them on the trail and hiked them to his vehicle.
The ranger then drove the group leader to the YMCA to meet the rest of the group and organize a shuttle to get them all back to the correct parking area. The last hikers reached the parking area at 10:05 p.m.
Wrong Way, No Map
In another incident at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 8, rangers received a report of two lost hikers on the Stissing Mountain Multiple Use Area in Pine Plains.
The 51-year-old from Brooklyn and 55-year-old from Dobbs Ferry made it to the fire tower but ended up on the wrong trail going back.
Their phones were reportedly running low on battery power and they didn’t have paper maps.
They also ran out of water.
A ranger instructed them to hike back to the fire tower. The ranger met them there, provided electrolytes and water, and hiked them back to the parking lot. The incident was clear at 4:30 p.m.
No Adequate Light Source
On Sunday, August 9, a forest ranger responded to a call for an overdue hiker on Giant Mountain in Keene at 11:30 p.m.
At 12:10 a.m., the ranger located the 22-year-old from Rochester on the Ridge Trail. The ranger reported the hiker did not have an adequate light source.
The ranger escorted the hiker to the trailhead.
In June, Giant Mountain was the scene of a similar incident when two hikers without lights had to be rescued at night.
