Officials in New Hampshire have identified the hiker who plunged 300 feet to his death from the summit of Mt. Willard on Saturday while snapping photos of the area with his wife.
Joseph “Eggy” Eggleston, 53, fell over the edge of the mountain in Crawford Notch, the state’s Fish and Game Department said in a statement on Monday.
“The hiker’s wife heard her husband yell and looked over to notice him falling over the edge of the mountain down a steep cliff that extended to the bottom approximately 800 feet,” the agency previously said.
Rescuers were unable to reach Eggleston until hours later, locating him 300 feet below the summit and pronouncing him dead at the scene.
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Joseph “Eggy” Eggleston, 53, operated a steam locomotive for the Mount Washington Cog Railway. Eggleston was identified as the hiker who fell to his death at the summit of Mount Willard on Saturday.
(Mount Washington Cog Railway)
Officials said Eggleston and his wife, Kelly, lived in Randolph, New Hampshire, and were longtime residents of the state.
The couple was described as “frequent hikers,” who officials said were “well-prepared” for Saturday’s trail and weather conditions and were outfitted with “essential equipment to include traction devices on their boots for the frozen and icy trail.”
Eggleston’s wife called 911 for help and rescuers rappelled down the cliff to reach the man’s body.
(NH Fish and Game)
Eggleston worked as an engineer for the Mount Washington Cog Railway, which operates steam locomotives that offer scenic views as they travel to the summit of Mt. Washington.
The railway remembered Eggleston on Facebook, writing that he lived “gracefully with profound hearing loss since childhood” and was able to live his dream of running a steam locomotive.
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“Eggy’s warm smile and passion for what he did will always be remembered by those he touched,” Train Master Andy Villaine wrote on Facebook. “I’m honored to have shared a cab with him. His home will always be in these mountains he loved. Gone too soon, never forgotten. That whistle will forever echo off these peaks for you.”
No Further information about the incident was immediately available.
A welcome plaque at the entrance of Crawford Notch State Park in New Hampshire.
(Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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With an elevation of about 2,865 feet, Mount Willard is in the center of Crawford Notch near the town of Hart’s Location.
