Backcountry rescuers assist a lost Hunger Mountain hiker

September 27, 2025 | By Waterbury Roundabout 

Late Friday afternoon, the Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team responded to its 13th call this year, this time to assist a lost hiker on Hunger Mountain. 

A call came in at 5:11 p.m. that a 50-year-old hiker from Maryland had become lost off-trail with her dog, according to a report by crew member Brian Lindner. 

The hiker was not injured but had become confused, and after trying to find her way down, had wandered off into the woods, the report said. “She was partially prepared for an emergency with an extra layer of clothing, but had no headlamp as rain blanketed the area and clouds had already reduced the late afternoon daylight,” Lindner writes.

Rescuers contacted the hiker by cell phone and then sent two teams up the Waterbury Trail from the Waterbury Center side parking lot. In a following call, the hiker described her view, which led rescuers to feel she was above tree line and probably near the summit, the report details. 

Rescuers advised her to use the remaining daylight to hike uphill towards the highest point of land and call back when she reached that point. She followed those instructions and had reached the summit when she called back. 

Following further instructions, the hiker found trail markings and signage leading down to the trailhead on the Waterbury side, the report says. Shortly after 7 p.m., rescue team members met up with the hiker on the trail in the darkness. They provided her with a headlamp, then guided her down to the base, arriving at 9:30 p.m., the report says. 

Rescue team members advise hikers to never start a hike late in the day; to always take extra clothing along as well as a headlamp, food and water, and a trail map. 

Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team is a division of Waterbury Ambulance Service.