Missing hikers found safe on Mount Washington amid drifting

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Missing hikers found safe on Mount Washington amid drifting snow

By DAVID TIRRELL-WYSOCKI

Associated Press Writer

Searchers braved blinding snow and six-foot drifts to find two New York hikers who were missing on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington.

The two were found late Tuesday night, cold, wet and tired, but in good shape, Fish and Game Lt. Todd Bogardus said.

David Lambach, 25, of Suffern, and Jolie Lampkin, 21, of Nyack, hiked up Mount Washington in good weather Sunday to spend the night and hike back out Monday, Bogardus said.

"They were overtaken by the weather," Bogardus said. "Sunday they had good hiking weather, but when they woke up Monday, they had snow." Blinding snow, howling winds and temperatures in the teens, he said.

During a short pause in the storm, the two tried to make it to the summit weather observatory, but were caught in a whiteout and lost their way, Bogardus said. Eventually, they made it back to the Great Gulf Trail, the route they had followed up the mountain, and made camp for the night.

"That’s where we came upon them," he said.

About 25 searchers from Fish and Game, the Mountain Rescue Service and Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue headed up the mountain Tuesday evening and found the two after about six hours, shortly before midnight. It took until almost dawn to hike the six miles back to the trailhead.

Bogardus said the two had a map and compass and other gear and were prepared for overnight camping, but not for deep snow and the chilling cold. It was about 17 degrees, with winds gusting to more than 70 mph.

"They were in good health," he said. "They just needed to be escorted out. "

Mount Washington, though only 6,288 feet high, is the tallest mountain in the Northeast and has some of the worst weather in the region with wind chills often off the charts.

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