A 51-year-old woman was rescued from a New Hampshire hiking trail Saturday after fracturing her ankle more than three miles from the trailhead, requiring a multi-hour litter carry by search and rescue volunteers and conservation officers.
Joanne Payne of Wolfeboro was hiking the Champney Falls Trail on Mt. Chocorua in Albany when she slipped and fell, fracturing her left ankle. She was one of two counselors accompanying six members of Boy Scout Troop 232 from Nashua at the time of the incident. Albany is in Carroll County in the White Mountains region.
Carroll County 911 Dispatch received the call at 1:50pm on April 18th. New Hampshire Fish and Game and members of Lakes Region Search and Rescue (LRSAR) arrived at Payne’s location at 4:27pm, approximately 3.1 miles up the trail.
Before rescuers arrived the Boy Scout group had already stepped up, appropriately splinting the fracture and applying ice to manage swelling and pain. Fish and Game later credited the troop with providing effective Wilderness First Aid.
Twelve LRSAR members, one Fish and Game Conservation Officer, and two good samaritans carried Payne out on a wheeled litter, navigating a water crossing on the way in and deploying the litter’s single large wheel for roughly the final two miles of the carry-out. The team reached the trailhead at 8:05pm, just after dark.
Payne was transported to Memorial Hospital in North Conway for evaluation and treatment. LRSAR noted that pace during litter carries is always driven by patient safety and trail conditions, regardless of the equipment available.
