The Falling Waters Trail accounts for more injuries than any other section of trail in New Hampshire.
Rescuers had to split their resources to respond to two separate, simultaneous incidents that occurred yesterday on Franconia Notch in New Hampshire.
At 1:05 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department was notified of an injured hiker on the Cascade Brook Trail in the White Mountain National Forest.
The hiker, Victoria Reynolds, 53, of Gorham, Maine, was hiking with family when she suffered a serious injury from a fall.
Fortunately, hikers who were also physicians soon encountered her hiking party and a conservation officer arrived at the group’s location at 2:35 p.m. It was determined that Reynolds was not facing a life-threatening injury but that it was still severe, requiring Reynolds to be carried down the trail on a litter.
However, within minutes of receiving the report about the injured hiker on Cascade Brook Trail, Fish and Game conservation officers received another report of another hiker who had slipped and slid over a steep ledge as he descended the Falling Waters Trail. The hiker, Lawrence Leszcynski, 65, of Trenton, New Jersey, suffered multiple lacerations and other injuries to his upper body.
Officials said this 200-foot section of trail accounts for more injuries than any other section of trail in New Hampshire.
A passing hiker was able to help stabilize the injuries and stay with the hiker until help arrived at 3:15 p.m.
It was quickly determined by the first rescuer who arrived on scene that the hiker would be able to walk out with assistance. This allowed for the majority of rescuers to divert to the injured hiker on the Cascade Brook Trail.
By 4:30 p.m., Leszcynski had arrived back at Lafayette Campground and was going to be relayed by personal vehicle to a local hospital for evaluation.
At 4:05 p.m., the rescuers at Cascade Brook began carrying Reynolds down the trail in a litter, with a crew that was composed of Reynolds’s Family, Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team Members, Sugar Hill Police Department, and New Hampshire Conservation Officers.
Reynolds was carried down the Cascade Brook Trail to the Basin Cascade Trail and arrived safely at the Basin Parking Area at 5:51 p.m. She received medical treatment from Linwood Ambulance Service personnel and was transported to Littleton Regional Healthcare for further evaluation and care.
