HANOVER — A Dartmouth College student and his sister, who attends Mount Holyoke College, were rescued by New Hampshire Fish & Game after they reported that they were experiencing hypothermia following a hiking incident near Franconia on Saturday night.

Xander Dalke, 20, and Aylen Dalke, 18, were aided by NHFG officers early Sunday morning after notifying staff with Dartmouth Outdoor Programs that they had twice fallen into water along Lincoln Brook Trail near Franconia and had gotten all their clothing soaked, according to a news release from NHFG.

The siblings sheltered in a tent and were inside sleeping bags and experiencing “early stages of hypothermia” when NHFG conservation officers reached their location 8.5 miles from the trailhead at 2:30 a.m. NHFG provided dry clothing to the hikers and they were able to hike safely back down the trail, arriving at the trailhead at 7:15 a.m. on Sunday morning, the news release said.

The Dalkes told Fish & Game that they had planned a two-day hike around Owl’s Head, one of the state’s 4,000-foot peaks, and intended to camp the night at Thirteen Falls. They said they fell into Lincoln Brook, changed into dry clothing, but then soaked their remaining clothing when they fell into the brook a second time.

“They decided to set up camp 2.5 miles short of their destination hoping to warm themselves. Once they stopped hiking and set up the tent site the early stages of hypothermia set in,” HHFG said.

Knowing temperatures would fall overnight they used a Garmin InReach device to notify Dartmouth Outdoor Programs staff. But they then turned off the device to conserve battery power, preventing rescue personnel to receive updates of their condition.

NHFG described the hikers as “well prepared with equipment.”

Xander Dalke, a sophomore who attended Steamboat Springs High School in Colorado and Granville High School in Ohio, is a member of the sailing team at Dartmouth. Aylen Dalke is a 2024 graduate of Granville High School and a freshman at Mount Holyoke.

NHFG advises that winter conditions have arrived in the White Mountains and hikers are encouraged to be prepared for their trek by packing with them the 10 “essential items” of map, compass, warm clothing, extra food and water, headlamp, fire starter, first aid kit, whistle, rain/wind jackets and pants, and a knife.

Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.