Hiker Rescued After 8-Hour Operation
A hiker was airlifted after an eight-hour rescue on the Appalachian Trail following injuries requiring emergency extraction. Separately, a Clinton, MA hiker was rescued by sled after an icy fall near Lonesome Lake in New Hampshire's White Mountains.
- The Appalachian Trail incident on Saturday, Feb. 21, involved a 46-year-old man who became too ill to walk near Hawk Mountain in Fannin County, Georgia. - The Georgia rescue was a multi-agency operation involving a "technical carry-out" in a stokes basket, followed by a long-line aerial lift from the mountainside by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to a Life Force helicopter. - The hiker in New Hampshire was identified as Steven Gabis, 72, of Clinton, Massachusetts, who slipped on ice and suffered a leg injury on Sunday, Feb. 22, while walking near the Lonesome Lake Hut. - Eight volunteers from the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team assisted a New Hampshire Fish and Game officer, using a rescue sled to transport Gabis over a mile and a half to the Lafayette Campground trailhead. - While the hiker in New Hampshire was injured by ice, officials noted his group was well-prepared for the winter conditions. - Lower-leg injuries are the most frequent cause of search and rescue events in the White Mountains, and there has been a recent increase in rescues involving hikers aged 70 and older.
