Adirondack Mountain News

Adirondack Mountain News The largest news source dedicated to the Adirondacks and North Country. Wildfire news from around the region.

Good morning, # Adirondacks!đź“ŤRoute 73đź“· Fran Armitage
11/23/2025

Good morning, # Adirondacks!
đź“ŤRoute 73
đź“· Fran Armitage

Good morning, đź“Ť The View From Noonmarkđź“· Ryan Finn / wxmanfinn
11/22/2025

Good morning,
đź“Ť The View From Noonmark
đź“· Ryan Finn / wxmanfinn

Good Morning, đź“Ť Loj Road đź“· Fran Armitage
11/21/2025

Good Morning,
đź“Ť Loj Road
đź“· Fran Armitage

Good morning, !đź“ŤSnowy evening apenglow on Whitefaceđź“· Tommy Horn
11/20/2025

Good morning, !
đź“ŤSnowy evening apenglow on Whiteface
đź“· Tommy Horn

11/19/2025

Forest Rangers Mark 10 Years Since Tom Messick Disappearance With Large-Scale Search Training

HORICON, N.Y. — Nearly 100 members of New York’s search and rescue community gathered in the Town of Horicon on November 15 for a large-scale field training that also supported the limited, ongoing search for missing hunter Thomas “Tom” Messick, who disappeared ten years ago in the southern Adirondacks.

Forest Rangers conducted the exercise as part of the Basic Wildland Search course, staging operations from the Horicon Volunteer Fire Department and Curtis S. Read Scout Reservation. Participants included Forest Rangers, local volunteer search and rescue teams, volunteer fire departments, and members of the New York State Police. Crews were assigned realistic field tasks in difficult terrain, mirroring the conditions they would face in a real deployment.

Because the training coincided with the tenth anniversary of Messick’s disappearance, search teams incorporated targeted assignments in areas that remain of interest in the case. These locations included sections of dense understory, steep drainage lines, and transitional zones that can hide remains or small personal items, especially after multiple seasons of leaf fall and understory growth.

Messick, an experienced woodsman and Army veteran from Troy, vanished on November 15, 2015, while hunting with a group near Lily Pond and Brant Lake. He was 82 years old. According to investigators, Messick had taken a stationary position while the rest of the hunting party moved to retrieve gear and reposition. When they returned, he was gone. No tracks, clothing, equipment, or other indicators of direction of travel were ever found.

The initial search was one of the largest in recent Adirondack history. Over several weeks, approximately 300 professional and volunteer searchers from more than 15 agencies were deployed. Operations included line searches, grid sweeps, air support, canine teams, divers, and technical specialists familiar with backcountry terrain. The effort extended across multiple square miles, yet yielded no confirmed clues.

Forest Rangers maintain a limited, continuous search posture in long-term unresolved cases, returning to key areas when conditions change or when routine training offers an opportunity to re-examine difficult terrain. This year’s exercise allowed crews to apply updated mapping, refined probability models, and improved field techniques that have evolved since 2015.

Messick’s disappearance remains unsolved.

The Department of Environmental Conservation asks that anyone with information about the case call 1-833-NYS-RANGERS.

Good morning, !đź“Ť Wolf Pondđź“· Aaron Nobleđź“· the_noble_toolmaker
11/19/2025

Good morning, !
đź“Ť Wolf Pond
đź“· Aaron Noble
đź“· the_noble_toolmaker

Good Morning, !đź“Ť Alpenglow on Whiteface đź“· Karen Rodgers
11/18/2025

Good Morning, !
đź“Ť Alpenglow on Whiteface
đź“· Karen Rodgers

Good morning, !đź“Ť Paul Smiths Vistor Interpretation Centerđź“· Connor Guest
11/17/2025

Good morning, !
đź“Ť Paul Smiths Vistor Interpretation Center
đź“· Connor Guest

Good morning, !đź“Ť Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretation Centerđź“· Connor Guest
11/16/2025

Good morning, !
đź“Ť Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretation Center
đź“· Connor Guest

Good morning, !đź“Ť Mirror Lake đź“· Becky Hansen
11/15/2025

Good morning, !
đź“Ť Mirror Lake
đź“· Becky Hansen

Multiple Adirondack Rescues as Rangers Track Missing Hunters, Aid Injured Outdoorsmen, and Assist Lost HikersTOWN OF BLE...
11/14/2025

Multiple Adirondack Rescues as Rangers Track Missing Hunters, Aid Injured Outdoorsmen, and Assist Lost Hikers

TOWN OF BLEECKER, Fulton County — A 53-year-old hunter from Wallkill was found safe late Thursday after losing his way in the woods, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Forest Rangers Caswell and Hamm responded to the call at 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 7 after Ray Brook Dispatch relayed GPS coordinates showing the hunter was roughly half a mile from the trailhead.

Ranger Caswell located the man at 10:30 p.m., reporting he was in good health. Although he carried a headlamp, GPS unit, and cell phone, Rangers said the hunter did not know how to operate the GPS to navigate back to the trail.

⸻

TOWN OF WARRENSBURG, Warren County — Rangers assisted first responders in helping a 73-year-old Queensbury hunter who became overexerted while dragging a deer on Nov. 8. The call came in at 4:30 p.m., prompting a response from Forest Ranger Clute and Environmental Conservation Police Officer Newell.

When they reached the scene, Warrensburg Fire and EMS were already treating the individual, who has a heart condition. Ranger Clute and ECO Newell helped move the hunter to an ambulance waiting at the trailhead. All units were clear by 6 p.m.

⸻

TOWN OF NORTH ELBA, Essex County — Later that evening, Rangers responded to yet another backcountry emergency after a group of hikers became lost along the Indian Pass Trail. The hikers texted 911 at around 7 p.m., and dispatchers used the coordinates to pinpoint their location near Indian Pass Brook.

Forest Rangers reached the group at 9:35 p.m., finding them in good condition but cold and wet from deteriorating weather. Rangers escorted them safely back to the trailhead, clearing the scene at 11:03 p.m.

Early November can bring rapidly changing weather to the Adirondacks. Snow is already present on some of the High Peaks, and hikers are urged to prepare for conditions at elevation, not just at the trailhead.

Hiker Airlifted After Injury Near Algonquin–Iroquois Trail JunctionTOWN OF NORTH ELBA, Essex County — A 20-year-old hike...
11/14/2025

Hiker Airlifted After Injury Near Algonquin–Iroquois Trail Junction

TOWN OF NORTH ELBA, Essex County — A 20-year-old hiker from Ontario was airlifted out of the High Peaks Wilderness on Friday after suffering an unstable leg injury deep in the backcountry, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Ray Brook Dispatch received the distress call at 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 8 reporting the injured hiker near the junction of the Algonquin and Iroquois Mountain trails, an area roughly six miles from the nearest trailhead and known for steep, rugged terrain.

With New York State Police Aviation already in the air for training operations, Pilot Hogan diverted to assist. Forest Ranger Rooney reached the patient and secured the hiker in a harness while Forest Ranger H. Praczkajlo coordinated the hoist operation from the aircraft.

Ranger Praczkajlo successfully hoisted the injured hiker into the helicopter, and the crew flew to Lake Placid Airport, where care was transferred to Lake Placid EMS for further evaluation and treatment.

đź“· Photo Provided

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