Hiker dies in 300 foot fall from cliff while taking photos with wife on New Hampshire mountain
HARTS LOCATION, N.H. - A hiker fell 300 feet to his death after tumbling from a cliff on the summit of Mount Willard in Crawford Notch, officials said.
The hiker, later identified as 53-year-old Joseph Eggleston, of Randolph, N.H., and his wife were snapping photos late Saturday morning before she heard her husband call out, and turned to see him falling over the edge of the cliff, New Hampshire Fish and Game said.
Mountain Rescue Service technicians had to rappel in icy conditions to retrieve the hiker's body from the face of the cliff, and it took hours to move the body to the trailhead parking lot, officials said.
Eggleston worked on the Mount Washington Cog Railway. "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," said Train Master Andy Villaine.
With an elevation of about 2,865 feet, Mount Willard is in the center of Crawford Notch, and its summit provides a commanding view of the region.
