Cornwall – Schunnemunk Mountain always held a special place in Gloria Lewit's heart.

It's the place where the 68-year-old Scarsdale woman fell in love with hiking as a teen-ager.

That all changed yesterday as she watched an avalanche of dirt and rock kill a fellow hiker and injure two others. "The rock and dirt gave way and three people," Lewit said, her voice trailing off and her head hanging low. "It doesn't add good memories at all."

Yesterday started out like any other for this group of age-55-or-better hikers who have gathered mid-week for 30 years to explore, exercise and socialize at various recreation areas.

The group of about 40 people, some from as far away as Long Island, set out about 10 a.m. toward the 1,660-foot summit, where they would have lunch and talk about next week's hike.

The group soon split up. About two dozen left Dark Hollow Trail to go "bushwhacking" – hiking out of trail bounds. The remainder continued on the trail toward the summit.

Those who went bushwhacking met danger shortly before noon.

"We were looking for an unmarked trail," Lewit recalled. "We got to a huge rock area, big rocks. It was steep and rocky."

That's when, fellow hikers said, Nick Styranovski, a 76-year-old expert climber and one of the group's founders, started helping people up the rocky incline.

"Nick was always a very considerate hiker," Lewit said. "He was a very sure-footed person."

Then, "you heard tumbling," Lewit said. Styranovski, of Queens, and three others were hit by falling rock and dirt. Styranovski wouldn't make it off the mountain alive.

A hiker in the group used a cell phone to call 911, and within minutes three state police helicopters, medical personnel, Westchester County Medical Center Stat Flight medics, and various fire and police departments launched a large-scale rescue operation that took more than five hours. The rescue effort delayed two Metro-North trains on the nearby Norfolk-Southern tracks.

"We heard a lot of helicopters and just thought it had to do with everything going on in the city with the bridge and stuff," said Sophi Weitz, 66, of New Jersey, who was with the smaller group that stayed on the trail.

The injured hikers were in a remote area inaccessible by all-terrain vehicles, so helicopters flew in medics and equipment to the area, state police Capt. Martin Hansen said.

It wouldn't be until hours later Weitz and others would learn the fate of their friends.

Three hours after the first call for help, a dozen hikers emerged from the trail head off Taylor Road. Some embraced, others sought water from waiting medics, and many wiped tears.

Gunvor Satrai, 70, of Wayne, N.J., suffered multiple fractures. She was taken by helicopter to Westchester County Medical Center. Daniel O'Rourke, 62, of Congers, suffered head injuries and also went to Westchester by helicopter. They were both in critical but stable condition, Hansen said.

Hiker Holger Nissen, 76, of South Salem, was treated at St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital in Cornwall for hypertension, Hansen said. A Mountainville volunteer firefighter suffered minor injuries during the rescue effort and was also treated in Cornwall.

Styranovski was described as an "experienced hiker" who often ventured off on his own, but always returned to the group at the end of the day to make sure everyone was OK.

"We lost a good friend," said one man who walked away, shaken and crying.

Styranovski was a private man. Fellow hikers said his wife died a couple of months ago.

"It's just one of those tragic things," said one woman as she headed toward her car. "We're mostly experienced hikers. It's just too much."

Many will keep their friend's legacy and love of hiking alive. They plan to gather as usual next Wednesday. This time they'll hike Bear Mountain and remember Styranovski.

"I don't want to go next week, but it's like getting in an accident," said Joan Levine, 72, of Manhattan. "You have to."

Staff writers Chris McKenna, April Capuchino and Judy Rife contributed to this report.