People staying at two Appalachian Mountain Club huts had to be helped out of the woods Sunday after problems arose.
According to New Hampshire Fish and Game, Steven Gabis, 72, of Clinton, Mass., who was part of a group that stayed overnight at Lonesome Lake Hut, slipped and fell on ice at about 8 am. Sunday, injuring his leg making him unable to hike out to the trailhead. A conservation officer and eight volunteers from Pemi Valley Search and Rescue team went from the Lafayette Campground trailhead to the hut, and hauled Gabis out on a rescue sled.
That afternoon, a 75-year-old man from Acton, Mass., had a medical emergency while staying at the Zealand Hut. He was able to hike partway out and was taken by a Fish and Game snowmobile to a waiting Twin Mountain Ambulance, which transported him to Littleton Regional Hospital for treatment.
Three of AMC’s eight White Mountain huts – Lonesome Lake, Zealand and Carter Notch – are open for self-service stay in winter. Both rescues involved people who were part of well-organized parties that were prepared for winter conditions in the mountains, according to Fish and Game.