A Boston woman who suffered a lower leg injury while hiking between Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette in Franconia, New Jersey, was rescued Monday, officials said.
The New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game said Anna Meier, 33, planned to hike the 9-mile Falling Waters/Old Bridle Path Loop alone, leaving at 8 a.m. She summited Little Haystack and Mount Lincoln on Franconia Ridge, but slipped and fell on the descent.
Meier tried to hobble down the trail, but quickly realized she wouldn’t make it back to the trailhead, more than four miles away. Her phone wasn’t working properly, but she was found by passersby who called 911.
Officials say with temperatures in the low 30s on the Franconia Ridge and wind gusts of up to 80 miles per hour, Meier also had trouble staying warm.
“This resulted in a wind chill temperature in the single digits,” officials said.
Rescuers were delayed by traffic on Interstate 93 and did not hit the trail until after 3 p.m. A separate two-person rescue team set out from the Appalachian Mountain Club hut and arrived in Meier just before 5 p.m. They managed to get her to the hospital. in a somewhat sheltered area and placed her in a sleeping bag until the main rescue team arrived around 6 p.m.
They took Meier to Greenleaf Hut AMC, where they arrived around 9 p.m. They took a short break before heading to the trailhead, arriving at 1:20
Officials said she was taken from the trailhead in a private vehicle to assess her injuries.
Adam Sennott can be contacted at [email protected].
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