Search and rescue crews responded to multiple, back-to-back hiker emergency calls near Mt. Washington on Saturday evening, with steady rain falling and winds gusting to 58 mph.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said the wind chill was 29 degrees and weather conditions were continuing to deteriorate.
Mt. Washington State Park staff were notified around 5:30 p.m. by a group of hikers that two people in their party had slowed down significantly and possibly needed assistance on Tuckerman Ravine Trail.
A staff member found the two hikers -- Phaneendra Uppalapati, 44, and Shirisha Mallala, 41, both of Nashua, NH -- just below the Lion Head Trail junction. They were extremely wet and cold, so the rescuer gave them warm, dry clothing and attempted to keep them moving but had to call for backup at 6:30 p.m., officials said.
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Conservation officers, the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team (AVSAR) and state parks personnel reached the hikers and were able to assist both of them to the summit, where they were loaded into vehicles and driven back down the mountain.
Everyone arrived safely at the bottom of the Mt. Washington Auto Road around 9:00 p.m., officials added. Both hikers were evaluated by EMS, and Mallala was subsequently taken by ambulance to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin for further evaluation and treatment of cold weather injuries.
Before that rescue was completed, conservation officers were notified of two additional hiker emergency calls -- one was for another possibly hypothermic hiker on the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail on Mt. Washington and the second was for a fallen hiker with a head injury on the Lost Pond Trail in Pinkham Notch.
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Convservation officers responding to Mt. Washington were diverted to Ammonoosuc Ravine while rescuers that had just come off of the Tuckerman Ravine trail were sent to the Lost Pond trail incident.
Once they arrived at the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, conservation officers met with hikers who said they had come across a young woman struggling to make it down a steep section of the trail below the Lake of the Clouds AMC Hut. One of the members of the hiking group had remained with the woman while others had hiked out to get assistance.
A conservation officer then hiked up the trail from the base station of the Cog Railway, making contact around 11 p.m. with Alejandra Ivonne, 32, of Derwood, Maryland, and the Good Samaritan hiker who had stayed with her. Ivonne was hiking Mt. Washington for the first time ever when she became separated from her group. She attempted to descend the mounta but was battered by the weather and became very wet and cold.
Officials said she was able to walk out with assistance and arrived safely at the trailhead around 11:30 p.m., where she was reunited with her hiking companions who loaded her into a warm vehicle.
Once that rescue was completed, the two conservation officers headed back to Pinkham Notch to assist the other rescue crew that was carrying an injured hiker out of the Lost Pond Trail, officials said.
Robert Ash, 83, of Townshend, Maryland, had slipped and fallen while descending the Wildcat Ridge Trail and then again on the Lost Pond Train. He suffered multiple injuries and was unable to complete his hike.
Officials said over the course of several hours, rescuers arrived from all over the region to assist in carrying Ash over a mile of rough trail to a trailhead along Route 16 in Pinkham Notch. They got Ash to a roadside around 1:15 a.m. where an ambulance was waiting for him and took him to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin for further evaluation and treatment.
Officials said Mt. Washington and the surrounding areas were experiencing weather seasonally common to the region but unexpected by many outdoor enthusiasts. The area received over an inch and half of rain, driven by high winds and fall-like temperatures.
"These conditions certainly caught people off-guard, and resulted in the ensuing rash of calls," the state Fish and Game Department said in a statement posted on social media. "People venturing out into the backcountry, even in August, are reminded to pack for survival situations, thoroughly research weather and trail conditions, and be prepared with gear and knowledge to self-rescue when things get bad."
