Two young hikers were helped off of Gap Mountain in Jaffrey Monday after sustaining what is believed to be heat-related problems.
According to a release from New Hampshire Fish and Game, at 5 p.m., conservation officers received a call for two juvenile hikers who were described as being in and out of consciousness on Gap Mountain, which was presumed to be a result of the heat and humidity. The hikers were part of a larger group from the YMCA Camp Takota.
Fish and Game conservation officers, as well as firefighters from Jaffrey, Fitzwilliam, Dublin, Rindge, Keene, Marlborough and Troy, police officers from Troy and Jaffrey and Southwest NH Fire Mutual Aid all responded to assist and aid the hikers off the mountain.
To ease the response effort, a local landowner, in a remote area, provided a staging area in their driveway that took off approximately a half-mile of distance for the crews to reach the patients.
The first patient was able to hike down under their own power after being aided by first-responders, while the second patient required more assistance and was carried in a litter back to the waiting ambulance. Both hikers were treated at the scene by the Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance service and transported to Cheshire Medical Center.
With the bulk of the summer ahead, New Hampshire Fish and Game reminds hikers to be prepared for hotter conditions.