NYS Forest Rangers managed seven incidents in Essex and Franklin counties, including rescues near Lake Placid and North Elba over Labor Day weekend.
New York State Forest Rangers handled seven incidents in Essex and Franklin counties over Labor Day weekend, from Friday, September 4, through Monday morning, September 7, according to DEC's weekly summary. There were four searches for lost or overdue hikers, two rescues, and a campground call that involved a sledgehammer.
The busiest stretch came Sunday night into Monday morning. The same crew of five Rangers found one overdue hiker in the Dix Range, got a call about two more near Little Haystack about an hour after closing the first one, and walked those two out after sunrise.
Ray Brook Dispatch got a call at 4 p.m. about two overdue hikers in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness. Rangers found their vehicle at the Grizzle Ocean Trailhead. At 7:56 p.m., Rangers Bode and Quinn and Assistant Forest Ranger Pervu located the pair, ages 35 and 43, from Le Roy, and hiked them out to the trailhead.
At 8:39 p.m., Fish Creek Campground called Ray Brook Dispatch about an aggressive person smashing a truck with a sledgehammer. Forest Rangers Foutch and Odell responded along with State Police. At 9:36 p.m., Ranger Foutch and State Police disarmed the person.
After an interview, State Police determined there was nothing to arrest anyone for: the truck belonged to the person swinging the sledgehammer. Family members picked up the camper, and the call was clear at 12:24 a.m.
A 70-year-old hiker from Illinois was reported overdue at 7:45 a.m. The hiker had set out to climb Cliff and Redfield and then camp at Lake Colden, but satellite coordinates from the night before put them near the summit of Cliff.
Forest Ranger Ezumah made contact with the hiker at 9:49 a.m. and confirmed they were lost near the top of Cliff. At 11:58 a.m., Rangers Jansen and Savarie and the Lake Colden caretaker found the hiker and gave them food and water. By 5:27 p.m. they had reached the Herbert Brook lean-to, where the hiker needed to rest before going on. The caretaker walked the hiker out to the trailhead the next afternoon, and the call was clear at 2:50 p.m. Sunday.
This one started with a hiker who wasn't planning to go far. Their son was climbing Mount Marcy, and they planned to get some exercise on the trail and turn around about half a mile before the Algonquin junction. They stepped off the trail for a bathroom break, couldn't find it again, and walked for an hour before calling their spouse for help.
Forest Ranger Jeffery and Assistant Forest Ranger Hodgson responded at 10:03 a.m. Ranger Jeffery had the hiker call 911 to get updated coordinates, which placed them about half a mile east of the ski trail, toward Marcy Brook. Rangers found the hiker and had them back at the trailhead by 11:05 a.m.
At 4:26 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch got a call about a hiker who had fallen and hit their head on Haystack. The 56-year-old from Black River had previous medical issues and was bleeding from the face.
Once Rangers reached the hiker, they decided a hoist was the safest and fastest way out. State Police Pilot Sergeant Beck flew Forest Ranger Lewis to the scene. Rangers on the ground put the hiker in a harness, Ranger Lewis pulled them up into the helicopter, and Sergeant Beck flew them to the hospital. The call was clear at 6 p.m. DEC has released video of the rescue taken from inside the helicopter.
Five Forest Rangers responded at 9 p.m. to a call about an overdue hiker in the Dix Range. The 53-year-old from Clinton Corners had texted coordinates to their sister, and those showed the hiker moving toward East Dix and Route 73.
Rangers found the hiker on the north fork of the Boquet Trail. Their headlamp had died, and they had been using their phone for both light and navigation. Rangers Corey and Lewis gave them a headlamp and walked them to the trailhead. Clear at 11:28 p.m.
At 12:37 a.m., about an hour after finishing in the Dix Range, the same five Rangers were sent out again. A friend had reported two hikers overdue. They had set out for Mount Marcy, and their last known location, at 7:42 p.m., was near Little Haystack.
According to DEC, the two had never hiked in the Adirondacks before. They didn't have headlamps, they had run out of food, and they didn't have warm clothing. At 5:29 a.m., Rangers Corey and Quinn found the two 20-year-olds from Michigan and hiked them out. The call was clear at 8:18 a.m.
Two of these seven calls came down to light. The Dix hiker's headlamp died, and the two hikers near Little Haystack never brought one. After the Dix search, Rangers recommended carrying more than one headlamp and extra batteries, plus a map and compass and the rest of the Ten Hiking Essentials. A phone is not a substitute: it drains faster when it's doing the work of a flashlight and a GPS at the same time.
DEC's Hike Smart NY and Adirondack Backcountry Information pages cover trail conditions and planning.
Outside Essex and Franklin counties, Rangers also helped an ill hiker at the Mud Lake lean-to in the Silver Lake Wilderness in Hamilton County, and a hiker having an allergic reaction near Sleeping Beauty Mountain in Washington County, over the same weekend.
Statewide, Forest Rangers conducted 126 search and rescue missions in the first six months of 2026, put out 65 wildfires covering more than 215 acres, and took part in 54 prescribed burns covering 1,355 acres. In all of 2025 they conducted 362 search and rescue missions and put out 202 wildfires, and their cases resulted in more than 1,100 tickets and arrests.
If you need a Forest Ranger, whether for a search and rescue, to report a wildfire, or to report illegal activity on State land, call 833-NYS-RANGERS. For urgent emergencies, call 911.