Overview

• The group texted Ray Brook Dispatch around 5 p.m. on Aug. 29 to report they were lost near Giant Ledge and said one hiker was experiencing a “debilitating high.”
• Forest Rangers Franceschina, Jeffery, and Martin located the hikers at about 6:45 p.m. and, with Pine Hill Fire Department, escorted them to the trailhead for evaluation by Shandaken Ambulance personnel.
• Rangers provided a courtesy ride to the hikers’ rental lodging after the group realized their car keys were missing.
• Ranger Martin returned the next day and recovered the keys from a sling bag under a log in tall ferns along the trail.
• The incident occurred in the Slide Mountain Wilderness, an area with steep cliffs and elevations from roughly 1,100 to 2,600 feet, as DEC notes 139 search-and-rescue missions in 2025 through July 1 compared with 362 in all of 2024.