CONTACT:
Lieutenant Mark Ober
603-788-4850
603-271-3361
June 26, 2026
Randolph, NH – On Thursday, June 25, 2026, at approximately 2:45 p.m., NH Fish and Game was notified by NH State Police Dispatch regarding an injured hiker on the Valley Way Trail in Randolph. The injured hiker had slipped and fallen while hiking down the trail and suffered a serious lower-leg injury. This occurred approximately 1.6 miles up from the Appalachia Trail parking lot.
Conservation Officers and several volunteers from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue (AVSAR) responded to the call and hiked up to the trail to the injured hiker. The hiker, identifed as James Bell, 49, from Weston, MA, had been hiking with his kids when the accident occurred. Earlier in the day they summitted Mt. Adams and Mt. John Quincy Adams and were on their way back down when the injury occurred.
The rescue team put a vaccum splint on Bell’s injured leg and placed him in a litter. They started carrying him down the trail at 5:48 p.m. The rescue team arrived at the parking lot at 7:00 p.m. From there Bell was placed in the Gorham Ambulance and transported to Androscgoggin Valley Hosptial in Berlin for treatment.