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Two Mass. teens, one allegedly ‘heavily intoxicated,’ rescued from Mount Monadnock
Authorities say the 18-year-olds were unprepared for their night hike.
Two teenage hikers in distress, with no food, water, warm clothes, or cold-weather gear, were rescued late Friday night after another hiker found them soaking wet and freezing after they fell into a brook on Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, officials said.
According to a New Hampshire Fish and Game press release, at around 10 p.m. on Dec. 19, the other hiker called New Hampshire State Police, who contacted the Fish and Game Department to request a rescue of the two hikers in distress on the Ferry Spring Trail.
Through contact via cellphone, officers found out that the two hikers fell into the brook and were wet and freezing as high winds, dropping temperatures, and their soaking wet clothes created a “life-threatening situation.”
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Fish and Game conservation officers, along with volunteers with the Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team, responded.
The department said the two hikers were 18-year-olds from Winchendon, Massachusetts.
Rescuers reached the pair at around 11 p.m. The department said one of the teens was able to walk down the mountain on his own, and rescuers assisted him back to a vehicle to warm up.
However, the other was unable to move and was suffering from cold-weather injuries. Rescue crews got him out of his frozen clothes and began to warm him up. Rescuers found him to be heavily intoxicated, the department said.
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The release said rescuers learned that the pair began their hike at 5:30 p.m., after dark.
Rescue crews got the injured teen to an awaiting ambulance by 2 a.m. First responders then transported him to Heywood Hospital in Massachusetts.
The department said the injured teen was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol, and it recommended billing the pair for the rescue.
“If you plan to hike New Hampshire’s vast hiking trails, please adhere to the hiker responsibility code as set forth by the hikeSafe program,” the release said.
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