DEC Forest Rangers participate in the search for Leo Dufour, who has been missing since late Saturday. His last known location was the summit of Allen Mountain, according to the DEC. (Provided photo — New York state DEC)

NEWCOMB — Thursday yielded no signs of a hiker who has been reported missing in the High Peaks since late Saturday, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which is leading the search.

Leo Dufour of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec set out alone to hike Allen Mountain, a High Peak with an elevation of 4,340 feet, and has not been seen since Friday. Search and rescue personnel have not found the missing hiker as of 3:15 p.m. Thursday, according to a statement from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The DEC said that windy conditions Thursday hampered aerial search efforts, while over a dozen rangers continued to look for the missing hiker on the ground.

“The conditions have been full-on mountain winter,” said Forest Ranger Scott Sabo in a Wednesday interview. “We’ve had several wind events of approximately 20 to 30 miles per hour … which create whiteout conditions and extremely slow movement as search crews have to navigate to ensure they’re in the correct drainage or correct elevation.”

Temperatures Thursday night were forecasted to dip below zero in the High Peaks, with wind chills between 20 and 30 below zero during that time. Highs today in the mountains are only expected to reach the single digits, with similarly cold conditions tonight and Saturday.

Helicopters were used to drop rangers off during the week on a limited basis as conditions allowed, according to the DEC. ATVs were also used to try to get rangers as close to the search area as the terrain allowed, with rangers hiking in much of the way by foot.

The search Thursday again centered around Allen Mountain and possible corridors where the hiker could have gone off-trail, such as stream or drainage depressions that may have resembled a possible route. This area was searched Tuesday and Wednesday as well, according to Sabo, who is serving as the field operations section chief.

The missing hiker’s last known location was Allen Mountain’s summit.

Dufour, 22, is an avid hiker, according to Facebook posts from friends and family members, and had winter hiking gear — including snowshoes and microspikes — as well as a stove. He was expected to return Saturday night, according to the DEC.

The DEC’s Ray Brook Dispatch — which coordinates wilderness search operations for the state — received a call at 2:30 a.m. Sunday from State Police, reporting the overdue hiker. State Police said in a Facebook Post that they received the initial call around 11 p.m. Saturday when a family member reported he had not returned by the time he indicated he would prior to the hike.

His vehicle was located at the Mount Adams Trailhead on the Upper Works Road in the town of Newcomb.

Despite its name, Allen Mountain is most commonly accessed from the Mount Adams trailhead. The two peaks share a trail for a portion of their respective climbs before diverging approximately 1 mile from the parking lot. From there, portions of the trail to Allen are unmarked and unofficial, including the final portion of the hike that gains most of the elevation near the summit.

Allen Mountain is considered an extremely isolated peak — the most remote High Peak in the Adirondacks, according to Sabo. The trail to its summit is approximately 9 miles one-way from the Mount Adams parking lot, with several bridgeless streams to cross.

In addition to the long distances, search and rescue personnel encountered inclement weather, as persistent lake-effect snows impacted that region throughout the weekend. The DEC said it was able to identify one set of tracks from the vehicle, but the snowfall made them difficult to track. Recent unofficial trail reports from hikers in the southern portions of the High Peaks have reported between 3 and 4 feet of snow near the summits as of Thursday.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.