Hiker Rescued from Great Gulf Trail

CONTACT:
Lieutenant Mark Ober
603-788-4850
July 7, 2025

Thompson & Meserves Purchase, NH – Conservation Officers rescued a hiker from the upper levels of the Great Gulf Trail on Sunday morning, July 6. The hiker had become exhausted and fell several times the previous night suffering minor injuries and ultimately sent a text to 911 as a notification of what she was experiencing and what was going on. She did not request an immediate rescue, but during the early morning hours, she sent a text reporting that she was cold and feared hypothermia.

Conservation Officers responded early Sunday morning by driving up the Auto Road and accessing Great Gulf Trail from the top. They hiked down a treacherously slippery rock scree field and located the hiker, identified as Katherine Hudson, 30, of Danbury, CT, in the same location as her initial 911 text.

Hudson was provided with warm fluids, food, and warm clothing. After being given time to rewarm and replenish calories, Hudson and the Conservation Officers hiked back up the rock scree field and made it back to the Auto Road by 11:30 a.m.

Hudson is an avid hiker who did possess a Hike Safe card and carried all the 10 essentials recommended by the program. These essentials were instrumental in Hudson making it unscathed through a chilly night perched on the side of a rock slide at 4,600-foot elevation without suffering from more serious injuries. The condition of the trail, exhaustion, and fearing serious injury by continuing down the rocky slide were the main contributing factors resulting in this rescue response.