Quincy hikers have to be rescued amid frigid weather on Mount Monadnock. Here's why
JAFFREY, N.H. − Three hikers, including two from Quincy, Massachusetts, were rescued after they got lost near the summit of Mount Monadnock as darkness neared and wind chill temperatures fell below zero.
In a news release, New Hampshire Fish and Game officials said the hikers weren't wearing warm clothes and didn't have lights when they got lost Friday.
One of the hikers, a 63-year-old woman from Quincy, had to be carried more than a mile down the mountain because her condition had deteriorated, officials said.
Monadnock Park staff contacted Fish and Game about the hikers just before 5 p.m., officials said. The wind chill temperature on Monadnock at the time was about minus-10 degrees.
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Monadnock staff, the Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team and New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers launched a rescue operation.
"A phone call was able to be placed to the victims in order to help them find the trail and get below tree line with the minutes of light left to navigate," Fish and Game officials said in a Facebook post. "Once they made it to tree line they were unable to continue as they did not have lights."
Rescuers provided gear to help them get down the mountain, but the woman didn't have the strength to make it all the way down, the post said.
The descent was stopped so they could give her fluids and make her warmer, and they decided to carry her the rest of the way, about 1.3 miles. They arrived at the trailhead at about 9:48 p.m.
An ambulance took her to Monadnock Community Hospital, where she was treated.
The other hikers, a 50-year-old from Quincy and a 37-year-old from Thailand, made it down under their own power. They reached the trailhead at about 8:30 p.m.
Fish and Game officials encouraged hikers to check the weather forecast first and prepare for winter conditions.
"Thankfully, due to the herculean efforts of rescue crews from Monadnock Park staff, Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team and New Hampshire conservation officers, the three victims survived their blunder," they wrote on Facebook.
Last week, a highly experienced professional trail guide died while hiking in New Hampshire.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy hikers rescued after getting lost near Mount Monadnock summit
