SIMSBURY, Conn. (AP) - Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials say a 63-year-old hiker was hospitalized after he fell while scaling a cliff on Talcott Mountain in central Connecticut.

DEEP conservation officers transported the Avon man to Hartford Hospital after arriving at the scene around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Simsbury police also responded.

The hiker, who wasn't identified, suffered severe cuts to his head and was knocked unconscious when he fell 25 feet and struck a tree near Heublein Tower on the Yellow Trail. His condition wasn't immediately available.

Officials say the man had been hiking and climbing shale cliffs alone. A group of other hikers, including several recent medical school graduates, came to the man's aid after he fell.