New Hampshire Fish and Game rescued two Massachusetts hikers from Mount Lafayette in the early morning hours Saturday. The hikers had lost the trail and one hiker claimed an injury prevented him from safely descending.
The two hikers, 35-year-old Shane Squires of New Bedford, MA and 41-year-old Robert Conlon of Haverhill, MA, started the nine mile loop at approximately 1 p.m. on Friday.
They made it to the summit and started to descend the mountain before getting into trouble. Above the tree line, the hikers were subjected to waist deep snow, high winds, and temperatures around 10 degrees.
The hikers put in calls to emergency responders around 9:45 p.m. One claimed to have injured himself during a fall, rendering him unable to finish the descent. One of the hikers also had severe hypothermia and was in and out of consciousness.
“The two hikers lost their composure and would not listen to any advice being given to them,” the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in a press release.
Conservation Officer Chris McKee, who helped conduct the rescue, said the hikers were unprepared for the journey.
“These individuals just didn't have the proper gear or experience to be out there hiking in this,” he said.
According to McKee, the hikers were wearing work boots, not hiking boots, and lacked necessary equipment for winter night hiking like lights, snowshoes or microspikes.
Rescue crews hiked approximately four miles, reaching the hikers at roughly 3 a.m. with warm food, water and appropriate gear. McKee said the man who had claimed an injury that prevented him from bearing weight on his foot was not as severely injured as previously indicated. He walked down the mountain using his own power.
After arriving at the trailhead at approximately 5:30 a.m., the two men drove themselves to a hospital where they were treated for frostbite.
The press release noted that, “even though winter technically begins December 21st, a drive up I-93 into the White Mountains will quickly show that winter conditions have arrived.”
McKee said winter hiking can be particularly dangerous and jeopardizes hikers and rescue crews alike.
“If there's anything — any doubt in question — whether or not you're going to be able to do [a hike] or the weather might be bad, just wait and go another day because the mountains aren't going anywhere,” he said.
