New York hiker rescued from Arizona mountain trail 2 days in a row

PHOENIX – A hiker from New York needed rescuing from a northern Arizona mountain range on two consecutive days last week, authorities said Monday.

The 28-year-old man from Brooklyn first called 911 around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday and said he got lost while hiking on Humphreys Trail in the San Francisco Peaks, north of Flagstaff, according to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.

Humphreys Trail runs through about 5½ miles of steep, rocky terrain between the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort and Humphreys Peak, the state’s highest point with an elevation of 12,633 feet.

After the county search and rescue unit was deployed, the hiker, whose name was not released, reported that he’d found the trail and was heading back down.

Arizona Snowbowl assisted in the efforts, sending snowcat vehicles to find the man and take him to the resort’s Agassiz Lodge, the sheriff’s office said. He told rescue personnel there he didn’t need medical attention, and he was given a ride to where he was staying.

Around 5 p.m. the next day, the same man called 911 to say he needed help after injuring himself in a fall near the saddle area of Humphreys Trail.

The search and rescue team asked for help from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which sent a rescue helicopter to pick up the man and another hiker who’d stopped to help him.

The injured hiker told rescuers he’d started Thursday’s outing at 9:30 a.m. and made it past the trail’s saddle area, but he turned around before reaching the Humphreys Peak summit because of high winds.

The nature of his injury was not disclosed, and he refused medical treatment after being flown off the mountain.

“The subject was provided with preventative search and rescue education about the conditions on the trail and the approaching winter storm and encouraged to not attempt the hike again,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

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