Hudson Valley Hiking can be tricky: "Dramatic New Year's Eve Rescue"

Our great friend (and fellow sometime hiker) Karen sent me this, from the Cold Spring?Beacon local paper.

Seems like they got lost near Bull Hill/Mount Taurus. Karen sent it to me because I'd told her that the last Hike of the Month (which I've yet to post about) ran longer than expected (wrong turn) and we'd needed to use our flashlights the last half hour. Of course we knew we could always call Karen and Mike to bail us out like on one of our past hikes.  See picture below for how and where that hike turned out/ended up.

Some excerpts after the link - but it's a quick read if you do hit the link.

The latest rescue of lost-and-stranded hikers came at a time when even the most dedicated of volunteers would have preferred to be at a party. The incident began late in the afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 31, and didn’t end until about 3:30 a.m., well after the ball had dropped in Times Square and most revelers had gone to bed.

Two hikers from Dutchess County, a man in his 40s and his 11-year-old daughter, along with two Bernese Mountain dogs, set out on a hike that took them along trails north of Cold Spring, off Route 9D. According to Josh DiNardo, then chief of the Cold Spring Fire Company (CSFC), the call for assistance came in around 5 p.m. “It began to get dark sooner than they expected,” DiNardo said. He said the pair became disoriented and strayed away from the trail, a turn of events that resulted in them not only being lost but stranded in a precarious spot.

Early on, DiNardo, who served as incident commander during the rescue, was able to get a rough fix on the pair’s location when he spotted a light from the man’s cell phone. They were somewhere between the old Cornish Estate and a long-abandoned quarry popular with hikers. But the cell phone battery was nearly dead, eliminating a small beacon that might have greatly simplified and sped up the rescue. A helicopter from the New York State Police was called in to assist in the search.

Hikers stranded on a ledge

DiNardo dispatched a team from the North Highlands Fire Company to approach the stranded hikers from the quarry side and a CSFC team to come in from the Cornish side. The hiker’s cell phone engaged just long enough for DiNardo to speak to him and to learn that he and his daughter were stranded on a ledge; a cliff rose above them and a cliff fell below them. “As soon as I realized the position they were in, I called in the Orange County Rope Rescue Team,” DiNardo said. When that team arrived, its members repelled down the upper cliff to assist the hikers and dogs down the lower cliff.

The hikers were able to walk out, although the girl suffered mild hypothermia. The two had not dressed for the colder night weather and had taken no food or water.

Sloppy planning, which could have had much worse results.

Here's how our getting lost July 26th (my birthday) hike turned out at the end. Our savior Karen is in blue - picture by Mike.

 

 

Comments

[Sweat]

This is what can happen when folks head out into the woods without the experienced and sage wisdom of THE FOLLY!

[Ellen Mullin]

Ha ! Ha! I don;t know who made the comment but I love it.