Two inexperienced Central New York hikers got themselves into a pinch last week while attempting to bushwhack off marked trails in the Adirondack High Peaks Wilderness.
The pair, a 32-year-old from Syracuse and a 36-year-old from Irondequoit, had planned to scale Dial Mountain via Gravestone Brook, a steep, strenuous, 18-mile bushwhack route with an elevation gain of 4,100 feet.
But shortly after 4 p.m. on Sept. 20, they called New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers to say they were lost and unable to move in the thick spruce forest somewhere on the south side of Bear Den Mountain.
The hikers informed rangers they had no experience bushwhacking. Furthermore, they had no map, compass, headlamp, or extra layers. And for some reason, they had not planned how they would return to their car after reaching the summit of Dial Mountain.
Rangers bushwhacked into the forest, following Leech Trail until they found the lost hikers hours later. They provided them with food, water, and headlamps, and assisted them to the Round Pond trailhead by 10 p.m.
Rangers suggest planning for your hike before heading out. Find out how long it will take and pack enough that you can survive the night in case things don’t go as planned.
DEC’s website has information about the 10 Hiking Essentials and other details to help plan your trip.
The following reports are excerpted from DEC:
A 55-year-old from Fishkill was overdue from a hike in the Slide Mountain Wilderness Area on the night of Sept. 20. The hiker was planning to climb Table, Peekamoose, Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap, and Friday Mountains, but was not prepared to spend the night. The last communication with the hiker was from the summit of Peekamoose at midday. A ranger located the hiker on the Fisherman’s path, approximately 2.5 miles from the trailhead. They were in good health but extremely fatigued, admitting they misjudged the distance and intensity of the hike and had become disoriented after their phone died, which was their only source of navigation. Rangers provided food and water and assisted the hiker to the trailhead.
Rangers rescued another overdue hiker on Sept. 21, this time on Big Slide Mountain. Last contact with the hiker was the previous evening. Rangers cleared the summit at 4:40 a.m. without any signs of the 38-year-old from Clifton Park. At 7:15 a.m., rangers found the hiker in good health approximately half a mile from the trailhead. They’d spent the night far enough off trail that they didn’t hear rangers calling.
A ranger equipped only with hand tools tried to put out a fire on Sept. 15 near Bear Lake in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness. Three more rangers joined him the next day. Due to the remoteness of the site, the rangers stayed overnight to control the fire and had it contained by Sept. 17. The fire was declared out on Sept. 22.
On Sept. 21 at 2:35 a.m., Essex County 911 dispatched an ambulance to the Elk Lake trailhead for two people complaining of hypothermia. They’d finished their hike, but were locked out of their car because the other two members of their party had not yet returned. Two rangers prepared to search for the other two hikers just as the pair reached the trailhead, car keys in pocket.
A 69-year-old from Avon fell and injured their hip on Rob’s Trail on Sept. 17. A ranger, along with Hemlock, Honeoye, and Livonia Fire Departments, lifted the injured hiker onto a wheeled litter then transferred the hiker to a City of Rochester Water Bureau pontoon boat on Hemlock Lake. The boat took the patient to the North Hemlock boat launch, where they were met by an ambulance.
A 41-year-old hiker vomited all night and could not hold down food or water after journeying from Marie Louise Point with a 13-year-old on Sept. 21. Two rangers, along with an Essex County Paramedic, met the pair approximately ¾-mile up the trail and provided fluids before assisting them to the trailhead for pickup up by a family member.