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Rangers bring down body of man from Hunter Mountain
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Albany International Airport firefighter Sean Pecukonis administers the COVID -19 vaccine to Albany County Airport Authority employee Stephanie Ziobroski on Tuesday at Albany International Airport in Colonie. Albany County made 100 doses of the Pfizer vaccine available to the Albany County Airport Authority for distribution to employees. At right, Steve Dorsey, president of the airport firefighters union, center, administers the vaccine to airport workers.
State forest rangers on Sunday recovered the body of a dead hiker found near the top of Hunter Mountain in the Catskills, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation.
DEC dispatchers got a call at 1:30 p.m. reporting that an unresponsive man was on the Becker Hollow trail near the summit of Hunter, one of several trails on the mountain, which is separate from the summit of the ski area of same name.
Two rangers hiked to the location of the 62-year-old man, who was deceased. More rangers on the scene used snowmobiles to get to the summit using the state truck trail from the Spruceton trailhead. Rangers then hiked one half mile in to bring gear and equipment to the rescuers.
Due to steep and icy trail conditions, they had to use rope systems and a special stretcher on the descent down Becker Hollow trail, arriving back at 11 p.m.
Additional agencies involved include DEC’S Division of Law Enforcement and State Police. The hiker died of natural causes, according to the Green County Coroner's office but his name was not immediately available.
The day before, in the Adirondacks, dispatchers at 6:41 p.m., received a call from a 27-year-old Rochester resident suffering from a sore knee while hiking to Mount Marcy in the High Peaks Wilderness. The hiker did not have a head lamp or flashlight and reported that his four friends hiked out ahead of him.
Just before 10 p.m., at Marcy Dam, a ranger made contact with the hiker and two friends who had turned back to help him. They arrived at the Adirondack Loj parking lot at 11:16 p.m., and reunited the hikers with their group.