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Hiker on a mountain in front of hundred-dollar bills
You can figuratively pay a steep price if you decide to go hiking without being adequately prepared. However, four people who made the ill-advised decision to tackle a mountain in New Hampshire are facing a literal one after the state decided to charge them for the rescue mission it was forced to mount after they got stranded.
Hiking is a great way to get in touch with nature while simultaneously getting some exercise, but you run the risk of doing your body more harm than good if you don’t make the necessary preparations for a trek that doesn’t fall in the “Casual Stroll” category.
It never hurts to have an ample supply of water and food you can use to fuel up even if you’re only planning on spending a few hours on a trail, and there tends to be a correlation between the length of your excursion and the list of supplies you’re going to need to take with you.
That’s especially true if you’re going to be attempting a hike that stretches into the night, and four people who failed to account for what was in store are facing what could be a hefty bill after they ended up stranded in the middle of the wilderness in New England.
The state of New Hampshire is charging four teenagers from New Jersey after they had to be rescued from a mountain in the middle of the night
New Hampshire features a number of mountains that are relatively quaint compared to the elevations you’ll encounter in the western part of the United States (its tallest, Mount Washington, tops out at 6,288 feet).
However, they can still be fairly treacherous to scale, and even if you try to take them on during the warmer months of the year, you’re going to be subjected to relatively chilly temperatures that can be exacerbated by unpredictable winds and inclement weather.
According to Valley News, four 18-year-olds from New Jersey were in the Granite State on Friday, August 14th and decided to tackle a hike on Franconia Ridge (a section of the White Mountains that boasts six distinct peaks between 4,300 and 5,300 feet) that normally takes between seven and nine hours to complete.
They made the bold decision to start the trip at around 3:30 P.M., and around five-and-a-half hours later, New Hampshire Fish and Game was informed they’d gotten stuck on the ridge as one member of their party was dealing with “sore legs and difficulty breathing.”
Volunteers working for the Pemi Valley Search and Rescue Team were dispatched to their location just after 10:30 that night, and they were able to track the quartet down on Mount Lincoln. The responders discovered the hikers had departed without any headlamps and were “improperly dressed for the conditions,” and they gave them food, water, and warmer clothing before leading them to the trailhead, where they finally arrived shortly after 9 A.M. on Saturday morning.
Fish and Game officials subsequently announced they had decided to charge the hikers for the rescue. They declined to specify how much they’ll be forced to fork over, but the department collectively spent a total of $250,817 on similar efforts in 2025.