Fish and Game conservation officers and other rescuers assisted three separate hikers on trails in Franconia, New Hampshire on Sunday.
An injured hiker was reported on the Falling Waters Trail near Cloudland Falls at roughly 9:30 a.m. The hiker had reportedly fallen about 15 feet and couldn’t walk out. Conservation officers and members of the Pemi Valley Search and Rescue Team reached Rose Mary Ayers, 63, of Hanover, about 10:45 a.m. Rescuers carried her to the trailhead by litter, arriving at 12:20 p.m. She was taken to Littleton Regional Hospital for evaluation.
In a second incident, the Appalachian Mountain Club reported a hiker had fallen and injured her lower leg near the Greenleaf Hut just before 2 p.m. A crew from the AMC and several hikers from the University of Vermont helped Joanne Waters, 70, of Newbury, Massachusetts, to the hut, where it was decided she would need to be carried out.
The group started down the Greenleaf Trail with her in a litter while conservation officers and members of the Pemi Valley Search and Rescue Team started up the trail. The two groups met about 5:30 p.m. The 26-member rescue team then carried Waters down the rest of the steep, rocky trail, arriving at the trailhead about 8:30 p.m.
A third incident also occurred at about 2 p.m. Conservation officers received a report of a fatigued hiker on the Dickey Trail in Thornton who was having difficulty descending the trail about a mile from the trailhead.
A small rescue team including a conservation officer, local firefighters and members of the Waterville Valley Department of Safety met up with Michael Brennan, 65, of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and helped him to the trailhead about 6:30 p.m.