NEWPORT — Local emergency workers rescued five lost hikers in the North Troy/Jay area on Sunday.
Police were notified of the incident at around 8:30 p.m. when a friend of the hiking group reported that they were due to meet him at a Long Trail crossing in Richford, at approximately 4:00 p.m.
He told police he checked in with the hikers at noon, and everything was fine, but then was unable to reach them via cell phone afterward.
All five hikers ranged in age from 60 to 75 years of age.
They began their hike from the Journey’s End trailhead in North Troy at 10:00 a.m.
One of the hikers was eventually able to contact 911 and GPS coordinates were obtained by police.
Based off of their location, a State Police cruiser was able to patrol the roadways near Journey’s End Road and blare the cruiser siren, which the lost hikers were able to faintly hear.
With the assistance of members from the North Troy Fire Department, who, with all-terrain vehicles and intimate knowledge of the wooded area, police were able to locate the lost hikers in a densely wooded area approximately 3/4 of a mile southwest of the Journey’s End Road/North Jay Road intersection.
All five hikers were physically fine, minus insect bites.
They were identified as John Boutin,66, of Fairlee, Elizabeth Boutin, 70, of Vaschon, WA, Linda Boutin, 75, of West Fairlee, Mary Bombard, 64 of Fairlee, and Kathleen Herrington, 71, of Montpelier, VT
