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A Binghamton man
survived a forty foot fall on Azure Mountain in the Town of Waverly
this past weekend.
DEC says 21 year-old
Joseph L. Milkovich had been climbing and rappelling a large cliff
at a location called “The Ampitheater” on Saturday.
He was walking across
a rocky area at the bottom of a rappel when he slipped and fell 40
feet down a slope of rocks and boulders.
Milkovich injured his
left arm and right knee, and also sustained cuts to his legs, arms
and back.
Around 7:30 p.m. that
night, a DEC dispatcher received a call from Franklin County 911
reporting the injured climber.
Forest rangers and
rescue personnel worked through the night setting up a rope system
and lowering Milkovich to the base of the rocks.
He was placed in a
litter and carried to a location accessible by ATV, which was used
to transport him to a waiting ambulance at 4:50 a.m.
Milkovich was taken
to Canton-Potsdam Hospital for medical treatment. His injuries were
not considered life threatening.
Among other recent
search and rescue calls, an Alden, New York man was found dead in a
lean-to in the High Peaks Wilderness May 29.
DEC dispatch was
contacted that afternoon by State Police for assistance in removing
the body of 53 year-old Paul Pawlak from the Slant Rock lean-to,
located along the Phelps Trail to Mt. Marcy.
DEC says Pawlak had
spent the previous night in the lean-to with companions. On
Thursday they were unable to wake him.
Two DEC forest
rangers hiked into the lean-to, but due to high winds, a number of
attempts to hoist Pawlak's body out of the wilderness were
unsuccessful. A forest ranger remained overnight with the body.
The following
morning, at approximately 7:50 a.m., Pawlak's body was hoisted out
by State Police helicopter.
A State Police
investigation found Pawlak died of natural causes. The coroner’s
report indicates he died of congestive heart failure.
On Friday, June 6, at
approximately 2:05 p.m., DEC dispatch received a call from Essex
County 911 reporting an injured hiker on the trail to Mt. Marcy
above Indian Falls.
Four forest fangers
and the Marcy Dam Outpost Caretaker responded to assist an unnamed
27 year old female hiker from Montreal, Quebec.
Due to weather
conditions a State Police helicopter was unable to assist in the
removal and transport of the injured woman.
She was carried down
to Marcy Dam, where she was transported by a forest ranger truck via
the Marcy Dam truck trail and out to the trailhead by 9:50 p.m.
On Saturday June 7,
at approximately 5 p.m., the DEC Johns Brook Outpost Caretaker
encountered a group of hikers near Johns Brook Lodge who reported
that one of the group was in distress.
51 year-old Elizabeth
MacNeil of Ottawa, Ontario complained of nausea and weakness and
then began vomiting as she was coming down from Yard Mountain. The
group eventually reached Johns Brook Lodge where they encountered
the caretaker who radioed DEC dispatch.
The caretaker
escorted MacNeil to the DEC Johns Brook Outpost so she could rest,
cool down, and rehydrate while awaiting the arrival of two forest
rangers.
The rangers escorted
MacNeil to the trailhead, stopping frequently to allow her to drink
and eat. She was released at the trailhead at approximately 8:20
p.m.
-Chris Knight,
6-11-08
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