CONTACT:
Conservation Officer Sgt. Matthew Holmes
603-788-4850
603-271-3361
July 13, 2026

Sargent’s Purchase, NH – On Saturday, July 11, 2026, personnel from multiple rescue crews teamed up to help an injured woman off Mt. Washington to seek medical treatment. At approximately 7:45 a.m., New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officers were notified that a staff member at the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Lakes of the Clouds Hut had taken a serious fall at the hut and was left unable to walk. Fish and Game subsequently mobilized search and rescue personnel to help evacuate the young woman from her remote location.

By 10:00 a.m., members of the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team (AVSAR), Pemigewassett Valley Search and Rescue Team (Pemi), AMC, and Fish and Game had gathered at the Base Station of the Cog Railway. The Cog Railway generously donated room on their trains, and rescuers and equipment were given rides up Mt. Washington to the West Side Trail, which allowed for a shorter and less strenuous 1.6-mile hike than other routes. By 11:20 a.m., rescuers were at the hut with the patient. The patient was subsequently packaged in a litter and prepared for an overland carryout back to the Cog tracks.

Rescue personnel made steady progress, and by 2:15 p.m., had made it back across West Side Trail and to the train tracks. A Cog Railway train picked up the whole rescue party and brought everyone back down the mountain. Once roadside, the patient was evaluated by personnel from Twin Mountain Fire and Rescue. She was ultimately driven from the scene by a friend and taken to Memorial Hospital in North Conway for further evaluation and treatment of multiple injuries related to her fall.

The patient was identified as Cali Turner, 26, of Willimantic, Maine.

Fish and Game would like to thank all of the people and organizations involved in this rescue effort. Through the help of everyone, the rescue was a great success and got done in a timely manner.