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66-year-old Massachusetts man dies hiking New Hampshire mountain; Body found after 2-day search with National Guard
Updated Mar 16, 2021;
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Roy Sanford arrived at Mt. Moosilauke in New Hampshire early Sunday to hike. Almost 12 hours later, he hadn’t return home, and his family was beginning to worry.
It wasn’t until the next afternoon after a two-day search involving the National Guard and state conservation officers, through heavy snow and blizzard-like conditions, that Sanford was found, according authorities.
Foot tracks had led authorities down a brook, where they discovered the Plymouth, Massachusetts man’s body, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department recounted.
Roy Sanford, 66, of Plymouth, Mass., was pronounced dead at a New Hampshire hospital Monday, March 15, 2021, after a hiking incident on Mount Moosilauke.Courtesy of the Sanford family
Roy Sanford woke up early Sunday morning and headed north to the wilderness of New Hampshireâs White Mountains, a trip he had made countless times through the decades as an avid hiker and a lover of the outdoors, his son said Tuesday.
Sanford, 66, was due to return to his home in Plymouth in time for dinner. Around 6 p.m., his wife, Mary Beth, phoned her adult children, Chris, Ryan, and Meghan, concerned that their father had not yet come home. They called the Warren, N.H., Police Department, near Mount Moosilauke, the 4,802-foot peak that Sanford had set out to summit that day, Chris Sanford said.
Solo hiker failed to return from day hike on Mt. Moosilauke
Published: 3/16/2021 4:49:31 PM
On Sunday, the wind above treeline in the White Mountains howled at 60 miles an hour with gusts over 100. Temperatures dropped to 16 degrees below zero, not including the windchill.
Roy Sanford, a 66-year-old man from Plymouth, Massachusetts, was overdue from a solo day hike on Mt. Moosilauke. As day turned to night, his family grew more and more concerned, officials with New Hampshire Fish and Game said.
Sanford told his family that he was going to go on “an up and back hike” up the Glencliff Trail, a three mile straight shot to the south peak of Moosilauke at 4,500 feet elevation. The north peak, with another 300 feet of elevation gain, sits less than a mile away across a ridge line. Sanford left early in the morning and intended to be back in time for dinner that night. When he didn’t return home, his family called the state police.