Lost Conn. Hiker is Found by Searchers
Aug. 17--HEBRON -- Search teams spent about five hours looking for a missing hiker at Gay City State Park after she strayed off a trail just before dusk on Saturday.
The operation was coordinated by the state Department of Environmental Protection's EnCon police force and lasted until she was located early Sunday morning.
EnCon police canine units, state police from the Troop K barracks, state police dog units, Glastonbury police, firefighters from Hebron and Glastonbury, a Hebron Ambulance crew, Manchester emergency crews, Columbia and Coventry rescue units and state emergency management officials also took part on the search, according the DEEP.
The 32-year-old female hiker left a marked trail and called 911 at about 8 p.m. on Saturday when she realized she was lost, according to an EnCon dispatch report.
The hiker was located at about 1:30 Sunday morning in a section of the park southwest of the main pond, according to an EnCon dispatch report.
Hebron Fire Chief Nick Wallick said several all- terrain vehicles and foot patrols were employed in the search.
The hiker was evaluated at the scene by medical personnel, according to an EnCon report. No injuries were reported.
The closest trail to the area is the pond loop, a 2.5-mile route that circles the pond, DEEP spokesman Cyndy Chanaca said.
In all, Gay City features 11.5 miles of trails, she said.
Gay City is located near the Hebron- Bolton town line, off state Route 85.
Gay City's 1,569 acres of parkland offer venues for swimming, picnicking and hiking.
The name Gay City can be traced to a former mill town that once occupied the site. Some stone foundations, several grass- filled cellar holes and a few " silent tombstones" are all that is left.
Gay City was first settled in 1796 by a religious sect led by Elijah Andrus and later by the Rev. Henry P. Sumner. About 25 families lived in the community.
According to DEEP literature, the residents kept strictly to themselves, separate from the neighboring communities. They built a sawmill along the Black Ledge River and erected homes from the lumber, according to the DEEP.
A mill on the site burned to the ground in 1830, and many residents fled to urban factory jobs, according to the DEEP.
A paper mill was built on the land, but many of the male residents went off to the Civil War and did not return, according to the DEEP.
Soon after the war, that mill burned down, according to the DEEP.
In 1944 Gay City was designated as a state park.
Copyright 2015 - The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
