The Remarkable Detective Work That Helped Rescue New York Hiker

Forest rangers with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation may have just hit a new high standard for professionalism and detective work after they used an ingenious tactic to locate a hiker that was reported missing in the Adirondacks.

While spring has finally made its way to southern parts of New York, snow is still falling further north. Not only does winter weather create more dangerous conditions for hikers, but fresh snow can (usually) impede rescue efforts.

Missing Hiker Reported to NYS DEC

"On April 8 at 10:15 p.m., dispatch received a call from a subject concerned about a 57-year-old friend who was one day overdue from a hike on Seward Mountain", began the report from the NYS DEC.

Search for Missing Hiker on Seward Mountain

Searches on the mountain began at 2:30 a.m., but freshly fallen snow meant that it was difficult to find signs of the missing subject. Thankfully, DEC rangers had a few tricks up their sleeves.

Brushing for Footprints Helps Find Missing Hiker

"One crew located the subject’s snowshoe tracks after brushing below four inches of fresh snow", the NYS DEC shared in a recent press release (below). After following the footprints, rangers found the hiker "tired, but otherwise in good health".

Social Media Reacts to Impressive Snow Rescue by NYS DEC

"Great work, that is some serious tracking skill", said one impressed commenter. "I wonder what [he] read in the snow alerted his intuition to dig right there" pondered another.

Read More: Major Announcement on Protected New York Fish from DEC

Cold weather rescues carry more urgency as the conditions make survival, especially overnight, more difficult. Crews searched Seward Mountain for 10 hours before locating the missing subject. Check out a daytime rescue of a different sort below.