Four unprepared hikers from New Jersey will be billed after they needed to get rescued in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
Jainam Bhavsar, Purva Jayani, Tirth Shah and Advik Yadav, all 18, set out about 3:30 p.m. Friday to hike Franconia Ridge in Franconia, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game.
The four hikers didn’t pack headlamps nor enough food and water for an up to 9-hour hike.
By 8:48 p.m., they called for help, saying one member of the party was struggling to breathe and had sore legs and they were low on food and water.
Rescuers set out about 10:35 p.m. and hiked more than 4.2 miles to Franconia Ridge and then onto Mount Lincoln, where they found the hikers about 1:15 a.m. Saturday.
The hikers, who weren’t properly dressed, were given lights, food, water and warm clothes before being led to Mount Lafayette and then down the Old Bridal Path to the trailhead, which they reached about 9:07 a.m.
“Due to the hiker’s lack of preparation, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department intends to bill the hikers for the cost of the rescue,” the department said.
New Hampshire Fish and Game warned that days are getting shorter and the temperatures in the White Mountains are getting colder.