ALPINE, N.J.—On Monday, Oct. 21, 2019 at approximately 1:20 p.m., Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Officers were dispatched to assist three lost hikers in the area of The Giant Stairs.
The hikers had left the marked trail and proceeded to a location where they were unable to safely continue hiking. The Giant Stairs is an area of the hiking trails located along the Hudson River in the Alpine Section of the Palisades Interstate Park. The Giant Stairs area consists of a boulder field and the terrain is steep and rocky.
The hikers were able to provide their GPS coordinates to Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Headquarters which aided in locating them. The East Bergen Rappel Team was dispatched to the Stateline Lookout to assist. Members of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Marine Operations Bureau responded by boat and deployed a member on foot to the Giant Stairs.
The Marine Operations officer was able to climb the rocks and locate the hikers. Due to terrain conditions the Officer was unable to reach the hikers and determined that the Rappel Team would be necessary to assist. The officer coordinated with the East Bergen Rappel Team who deployed a rescuer from the top of the cliff at Stateline Lookout to meet with the PIPPD Marine Operations officer below. The two responders were able secure lines and climb to the hikers. They then were able to safely assist the hikers down the rocks to the trail.
The Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Marine Operations members recovered the three hikers and two responders using PIPPD’s boats and transported them to the Alpine Boat Basin. The three hikers were not injured and refused any medical attention. No responders were injured during this incident.
The hikers were a 24-year-old female from San Gabriel, Calif., a 24-year-old female from Warminster, Penn., and a 25-year-old female from Quincy, Mass.
