RANDOLPH — An 81-year-old Illinois man was carried off Mount Madison late Friday after becoming fatigued and suffering leg cramps, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Karl H. Velde and his son, Karl T., of Needham, Mass., were hiking on the Appalachian Trail on Friday evening when the elder Velde became tired and his legs cramped.

When rescuers arrived about 8:30 p.m., he tried to walk down the mountain with assistance, but about halfway down needed to be placed in a litter, Fish and Game officers said in a release.