One of the two Bangor men rescued from the Maine woods Wednesday night has been taken to Boston for frostbite treatment and possible amputation, his wife said.

Gary Foster, 75, left, and Sidney Hoyt, 77. Both men are from Bangor. Photo courtesy of Maine Warden Service

Constance Hoyt, 78, said her husband, Sidney Hoyt, 77, was only wearing socks and sandals when he stepped out of his car to look for help after getting turned around on rural roads northeast of Bangor. Authorities found him and a friend, 75-year-old Gary Foster, after dark Wednesday night.

“He didn’t put any boots on. His feet froze,” Constance Hoyt said on a Thursday afternoon phone call. “I looked at his toes, and they were pretty black.”

Foster was still in the car, which slid off the road and into a ditch, but Sidney Hoyt had collapsed after walking down a nearby path, Constance Hoyt said.

The men had been missing for more than 24 hours, enduring temperatures that dropped below freezing, before a couple on a nearby farm heard their cries for help and called 911.

“We had a lot of people praying. My church was praying,” Constance Hoyt said.

Maine Game Warden Jonathan Parker found the men along a remote road in Township 32, about 15 miles northeast of Bangor, officials said.

Parker found the men a few turns off of Stud Mill Road, which runs from Milford, in Penobscot County, to Princeton, in Washington County.

Sidney Hoyt was taken to Boston before noon and was “in a lot of pain,” his wife said around 2:30 p.m., but she had not gotten an update on his condition since he was transported south Thursday morning. She said doctors may need to amputate his toes or part of his feet, but the scope of the damage was still being determined.

Foster was admitted to the Maine Veteran’s Home in Bangor in October, and this was the first day trip he had been allowed to take, Constance Hoyt said.

Constance Hoyt said she believed Foster was still in Maine, but had not heard any recent updates on his condition.

A spokesperson for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife did not return a phone call Thursday asking about Foster’s status. An employee reached by phone at the Bangor Veterans Home referred a reporter to an email address at the central office, which did not reply to questions about Foster’s condition or the home’s day-trip protocols.

ROUTINE DRIVE GONE WRONG

Constance Hoyt said the two longtime friends would regularly drive along Stud Mill Road, taking in the scenery, scouting fishing and hunting spots and stopping to eat at a nearby diner.

“That’s what they usually do, they go up, they drive,” she said. “But there’s so many side roads off that road, they got on the wrong one.”

At one point, they lost Stud Mill Road and attempted to circle back to it by heading further north. But without a GPS, Sidney Hoyt was unable to navigate and ended up driving deeper and deeper into the rural area.

At several points during the drive, the men had to dig the car out after it became stuck in a snowbank, Constance Hoyt said. Ultimately, it slid off the road and became lodged in a ditch.

Neither man had a cellphone, and the vehicle, a Honda Ridgeline, did not have GPS or technology that could be used to track it externally, she said.

“He didn’t plan ahead,” she said. “He’s not a spring chicken anymore. He can’t just go wandering off somewhere and not have a backup plan.”

The warden service’s survival guide recommends that anyone venturing into the Maine woods dress in warm layers and carry a cellphone to call 911 if they become lost. If it’s possible to signal one’s location using noise – whistling or gunshots – groups of three are understood to be distress signals.

If someone becomes lost within about an hour of sunset, the warden service recommends using the remaining daylight to prepare for a night in the woods, rather than attempting to find help.

The Maine Emergency Management Agency recommends drivers keep an emergency kit in their vehicle containing blankets, a first aid kit, brightly colored cloth to flag rescuers and extra cold-weather gear, among other items. The agency also recommends keeping sand or cat litter in the car to help get unstuck from ice and snow.

Constance Hoyt said she and Sidney have been married for 55 years and together for around 57. She called the warden service to report the men missing Tuesday night. From now on, she plans to keep a closer eye on her husband’s location.

“I like it better when he’s sitting on the couch,” she said, laughing softly. “I can see him.”