Two groups of hikers were rescued from Mount Lafayette this weekend after suffering from hypothermia.
Two crew members from the AMC’s Greenleaf Hut hiked up to assist the first group late Friday night and located them just below the summit, which has an elevation of 5,260 feet.
Dmytro Grechko, 19, from New Jersey, was unresponsive and suffering from severe hypothermia due to the cold and wet conditions, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game.
The hut crew members provided warm clothing and emergency shelter, and called the Pemigewasset Valley and Lakes Region search and rescue teams to assist the unresponsive hiker, and another hiker experiencing hypothermia, down the mountain.
Rescuers reached Grechko shortly after 1 a.m., and he was carried down to the AMC hut by 2:55 a.m.
While at the Greenleaf Hut, Grechko began improving and regained consciousness, and he was assisted down the Old Bridle Path to the trailhead at 7:55 a.m., Fish and Game reported. He was taken to Littleton Regional Hospital for further medical evaluation.
A second group of hikers, also experiencing hypothermic conditions, made a separate emergency call while rescuers were responding to the first group. They were about a mile from the trailhead, and were assisted back to the start of the trail in Franconia Notch.
One of the volunteer rescuers helping the first group of hikers suffered a serious injury and needed to be helped back to the trailhead, officials said.
