Kelly heard her husband yell, and when she looked over, she saw her husband "falling over the edge of the mountain."
A man from New Hampshire died after falling over a high summit while photographing his wife. According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, the pair was hiking Mount Willard in Crawford Notch on Saturday when the man fell from the mountain's summit. Rob Arey, Marketing Director for Mount Washington Cog Railway, told PEOPLE that the hiker lost in Saturday's sad tragedy was steam engineer Joe "Eggy" Eggleston.
Eggelston and his wife, Kelly Eggleston, were photographing the Crawford Notch area after reaching the peak. Kelly then heard her husband yell, and when she looked over, she saw her husband "falling over the edge of the mountain down a steep cliff that extended to the bottom approximately 800 feet," Fish and Game wrote in their press release. Kelly immediately called 911 for help when she saw the icy terrain and steep condition of the pathway.
"Conservation Officers responded along with members of Mountain Rescue Service (MRS). MRS Rescue Technicians were able to rappel down the cliff and eventually located the hiker at approximately 2:30 p.m. The subject was deceased and located approximately 300 feet below the summit of Mt. Willard," per the release. Around 6:45 p.m. that evening, rescuers were able to take the victim's body off the cliff wall and return it to the Mount Willard trailhead parking area.
Mount Washington Cog Railway wrote a beautiful eulogy for Joe on their Facebook page, recalling him as a man who lived "gracefully with profound hearing loss since childhood." Joe had said that he joined the cog railways because "where else could a deaf man fulfill his dream of running a steam locomotive?" Rob told PEOPLE that Joe died "doing what he loved to do."
Rob added that the late engineer worked for Mount Washington Cog Railway "for over 30 years," bringing tourists to the top of Mount Washington on the company's ancient steam engines.
A friend of the couple, John Kelly, wrote on Facebook that the two were "experienced hikers." He said that the couple "wore appropriate clothing and foot gear for the snow and ice whenever they hiked during the colder months of the year." John was shocked at the death and sent his condolences to Kelly and her family.
"Eggy’s warm smile and passion for what he did will always be remembered by those he touched. 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," Train Master Andy Villaine shared of Joe.
References:
https://nhfishgame.com/2022/12/12/hiker-fatality-on-mt-willard-crawford-notch/
Cover Image Source: Facebook | Mount Washington Cog Railway
