A family’s report of lost hikers on Seward Mountain led to a ground and air search Oct. 10, but forest rangers found the group packing up camp and learned they were not lost.
Ray Brook Dispatch received the report at 12:39 p.m. in Harrietstown, Franklin County, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation’s report, released Thursday.
A hiker had sent a satellite message asking a family member to call rangers. The family did not know the hiker had also contacted rangers directly.
Two rangers searched on the ground while another searched from a New York State Police aircraft. The ground team located the Staten Island hikers near Ward Brook at 3:44 p.m.
One of the rangers had already responded to two satellite messages from the same hiker the previous day, guiding the person back to the trail both times.
The DEC said the message to the family likely was delayed until the hiker had better cell service.
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