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The incident took place in Ulster County around 3:30 p.m. on Monday, July 31 in the Slide Mountain Wilderness area in the town of Olive.
The search began when Forest Ranger Horn overheard radio traffic on the Ulster County 911 channel about a lost hiker with early signs of dementia near Bradkin Road in the Slide Mountain Wilderness, DEC officials said.
A 73-year-old had last been seen by her husband while hiking an unmarked trail and unmaintained logging road up a drainage.
The husband asked his wife to remain on the trail while he looked for something. He was gone for about 30 minutes and when he returned, his wife was missing, DEC said.
Rangers Horn and Rusher conducted a linear search with the New York State Police, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and a search team from Shandaken.
At 7:45 p.m., rangers located the woman climbing up a slope.
The rangers provided food and water, helped the hiker back down, and turned her over to EMS for further evaluation.
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