As summer has turned to fall, the hectic pace of backcountry rescues has decreased significantly. State forest rangers responded to just two such calls since Labor Day in the Adirondacks.

On Labor Day itself — Monday, Sept. 7 — at 3:35 p.m., the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Ray Brook dispatch received a call from a 37-year-old hiker from the Bronx, reporting she had injured her ankle while hiking down Mount Marcy in the High Peaks Wilderness, in the Essex County town of North Elba. The hiker indicated that she was mobile and hiking with a partner, and that the pair would continue down the mountain.

Assistant Forest Ranger Jonathan Leff responded and started up the mountain to meet the hiking party while Forest Rangers Rob Praczkajlo and Adam Baldwin headed into Marcy Dam on an all-terrain vehicle. Once the rangers reached the subject, they transported her back to the trailhead. The injured hiker said she would seek further medical attention on her own. The incident concluded at 8:20 p.m.

On the morning of Sunday, Sept. 13, DEC’s Ray Brook dispatch received a report of three stranded paddlers on Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, in the Clinton County town of Peru. The three boaters spent an unexpected night out due to bad weather. Ray Brook called the paddlers to advise the group that they were not in danger and to get more details about their whereabouts.

Rangers Bronson and Russell responded to the boaters using a stationed motorboat from the DEC dock at Peru and located the three paddlers secure on Bluff Point. The paddlers and rangers were back at the Peru boat launch by 10 a.m.