The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reported April 13, that on the afternoon of April 10, Greene County 911 contacted DEC forest rangers about a lost hiker at Kaaterskill Falls in Hunter. Acting Forest Ranger Lt. Dawson responded, reaching the hiker by phone and then locating the 55-year-old man from Danbury, Conn., at the base of a 25-foot ledge. The ranger escorted the hiker up a path through the ledge and up the steep slope until they reached the rail trail. The hiker and his dog then independently walked back to his vehicle. The man said he came out for the day with his dog to take pictures of Kaaterskill and Bastion falls. He planned to hike off trail through the woods from the Kaaterskill Rail Trail to Bastion Falls, but did not realize that the terrain would include ledges scattered along a steep slope. As he hiked down the slope, attempting to avoid a ledge, he became disoriented and concerned because he could not find his way back up the slope, so he yelled for help and called 911. In 2020, DEC forest rangers conducted 492 search and rescue missions, extinguished 192 wildfires that burned a total of more than 1,122 acres, and worked on cases that resulted in 3,131 tickets or arrests. Read more at dec.ny.gov.